Title
Prospective work design in the digital factory - combined use of 3D human simulation, virtual reality and motion capturing
Abstract
For the design of ergonomic, safe, and productive workplaces, a combined use of different tools of the digital factory is beneficial. Methods such as motion capturing are mainly used to capture the actual process, while 3D human simulations are mainly used in the planning phase. VR is increasingly being used for safety instructions or training courses but it’s also being used increasingly in planning.
As part of a 3-hour workshop, the combined use of 3D human simulation, virtual reality and motion capturing will be demonstrated and discussed. ema Work Designer (emaWD) is used to simulated and evaluated manual work processes (with or without robot interaction) in regard to ergonomics, productivity (production time, value added) and safety-related criteria.
The participants learn how to create an environment in emaWD and how to simulate and evaluate work processes. Furthermore, the acquisition of motion capturing data and its use in emaWD for the work process evaluation is dealt with. Finally, emaWD is used in combination with virtual reality to develop a final optimization concept and to try it out in emaVR.
More information about the ema Software Suite including ema Work Designer can be found under following link: https://imk-ema.com/ema-software-suite-en.html
Bio
Michael Spitzhirn studied business administration with a focus on ergonomics and production systems and industrial engineering at Chemnitz University of Technology and then worked at Bundesdruckerei. From 2012 to 2020 he worked as a research assistant at the department of ergonomics and innovation management at Chemnitz University of Technology. His research topics has been digital work planning, virtual ergonomics as well as ergonomic process evaluations. Since 2018 he has been at imk Industrial Intelligence GmbH as a specialist for virtual ergonomics methods and coordinator for Research projects & ema education.
As coordinator for research projects and ema education, my main tasks include the further development of our planning software ema Software Suite (https://imk-ema.com/softwaresuite.html), the acquisition and support of research projects and our non-commercial customers. As a specialist in virtual ergonomic methods, I deal with work process simulations (including human-robot interactions) as well I conduct specific training courses.