Research on virtual human in ergonomic simulation

The virtual product development is the unified process of product design, evaluation and validation. Ergonomics analysis is the important step for product validation in the process, and the virtual human is key to the computer-aided product ergonomics. In this paper, ergonomics simulation system is studied based on some elements of ergonomics analysis and assessment. An ergonomics virtual human is built, which is a unified framework made up of biomechanics/physiology-based model, anthropometrical model, posture and motion model, task model, human reactions and decision-making model and human factor analysis model. The framework is applied to virtual prototyping and virtual product development.