Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/83694
n n n n Simulation of the population," says Dassault's Charland. "That is something you can do with DHMs. The technology is so powerful you can answer a lot of what-ifs: What if we move this part from here to there? What if we move the open- ing another foot?" Fifteen years ago, plant managers and er- gonomists had no easy way to identify cer- tain repeated motions that, in the long run, prove hazardous. Today, using DHMs, they can reasonably predict the long-term impact of certain operations on workers. The aim is to prevent and reduce injuries by designing a safe, risk-free environment for manufacturing. All Shapes and Sizes Looking back at earlier incarnations of Sie- mens PLM Software's Jack and Jill, Hoffman admits that, originally, figures were much chunkier, more rigid, and didn't deform well. "Now, a mesh network covers the figure," he where else in the world. So if you are manufac- turing your design in Malaysia, for example, you' d want to resize your manikin to match the typical Asian population there. By default, we keep our manikins within average sizes, with normal range of motions, but if someone knows something about the target user, they can tweak the manikin further to get the right range of motion with DELMIA software." Although currently it is not the primary fo- cus of DHM technology developers, academ- ics and researchers have now begun studying and compiling data on under-represented segments of population, such as disabled people. Ron Hamameh, who authored the pa- per titled "Digital Human Models of People with Disabilities" (Digital Commons, Wayne State University, January 2010), observes, "With the injured veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars returning home and the baby-boomer generation exceeding retirement rection. [Researchers] may focus on ergonom- ics, on answering specific questions, but the people they present their findings to—upper management—are usually influenced by the visuals they've seen in the games their kids are playing. So they find it difficult to trust analy- sis results where figures look inferior to what they're used to seeing in video games. That's a challenge we recognize." Some DHM software allows users to in- corporate scanned 3D data (usually saved as point-cloud data) and high-res images. They can be used much in the same way as texture- mapping on 3D volume to create video game characters with realistic skin and clothing. The Next Frontier Malek currently serves as president of the Inter national Human Simulation Society, a relatively new industry group. Design and simulation software developers have quickly says. "That lets us represent the shapes of dif- ferent people more accurately than before." Accurate representation of body types is (Top left) A basic version of PTC's manikin is included free of charge with its flagship CAD software Creo Parametric. An advanced version, Creo Manikin Extension, is available for purchase. (Top right) As shown in the Sequence Editor dialog window in Siemens PLM Software's Tecnomatix, digital human software makes it easy to construct a series of actions the model needs to perform. important not just for aesthetics, but also for accuracy of the analysis results. In many cases, designers employ DHMs to understand how people in the far ends of the spectrum—those who are extremely tall, heavy, thin, or short— will react to their products. For example: How much legroom should be engineered into a cockpit to accommodate the tallest pilot? Is the lawn mower seat big enough to fit the heaviest potential user? Being able to adjust and customize the DHMs gives users a bet- ter understanding of the hazards posed by the design, the risk of injury involved in a certain factory layout, or the discomfort a consumer may suffer when using a product. "Our [DELMIA] manikin is resizable to match different segments of the human popu- lation," notes Dassault's Charland. "This is important because, today, a product designed in one place of the world might be used some- 28 August/September 2012 age, there is an increase in the disabled popula- tion, the elderly population, and the need by both those populations for assistive technolo- gies. With DHM software programs being utilized by more and more industries, includ- ing the medical device and assistive technology industries, it only reinforces the notion that DHM software use will increase dramatically over the next few years." Demand for Realistic Visuals "Five or six years ago," recalls Dassault's Char- land, "the manikin looked more like a robot." The complaint the company often got from users was that kids' $50 video games had bet- ter-looking humans than the high-end profes- sional engineering software. "The DHM figures are going to be much more lifelike," says Siemens PLM Software's Hoffman. "Things are definitely going that di- jumped on board; founding members include Siemens PLM Software, Autodesk, and Das- sault Systemes. At the Society's first Interna- tional Summit on Human Simulation early last summer, Ulrich Raschke, Siemens PLM Software's director of human simulation prod- ucts, was named vice president. "I'm working with Ford, GM, and Chrys- ler," Malek says. "Human modeling is such an important issue for them, particularly to reduce injuries on the assembly line." One of the society's objectives is to establish industry standards for digital human modeling. Although better graphics and increased power in computing now enables Santos DHMs to show results in real-time animation for straightforward scenarios (for example, predicting posture when reaching for a certain lever), the more complex jobs—like asking a digital marine to perform a series of tasks Image courtesy PTC. Image courtesy Siemens PLM Software.