Digital Manikin Facilitates Ergonomic Design
Every iteration of Eurosatory reveals something new and interesting – often involving the import of technology or processes from the civilian world to the defence domain – and the 2018 exhibition is no different. Kaiserslautern-based Human Solutions brought its RAMSIS digital manikin to Villepinte, showing how it can contribute to optimising vehicle interior design.
A soldier must be able to move freely and react fast to all kinds of situations – despite the restrictions imposed by bulky protective clothing and equipment. This is why the interior design of a vehicle must be perfect: in the tight spaces inside the vehicle, safety factors are measured in millimetres.
RAMSIS is a digital manikin used worldwide by leading car manufacturers for the optimal ergonomic design of vehicle interiors – and it can now enter and exit a vehicle in full combat gear, equipped with the most important, up-to-date army equipment. This provides vehicle designers with information on the ergonomic requirements of the occupants at an early stage of the design process, ensuring shorter development times and reducing the costs for later modifications to the vehicle.
RAMSIS behaves according to the specific equipment attached and/or being worn. In real life, clothing can restrict the mobility of individual body parts – boots can restrict ankle movements, for example, and if a soldier is wearing a helmet, his posture in the vehicle changes because he has to lower his head. These restrictions are automatically addressed in RAMSIS, so the simulation results are especially realistic.
At the heart of RAMSIS Defense is the integrated equipment library. The most important items of the current equipment of German soldiers, such as combat jacket and pants, boots, protective vest, helmet and the newly-introduced electronic backpack were digitised with 3D scanners and integrated into the equipment library. The manikin can be equipped for a specific mission set.
“Ergonomics simulation with RAMSIS Defense provides vehicle designers with the practical relevance they need to precisely analyse and design functionality in the vehicle. […] Our manikin can be realistically equipped with protective clothing and equipment. This means that posture, force and consequently the analysis results correspond to actual use. The high degree of practical relevance was very important to us. The RAMSIS Defense module was developed in cooperation with the German Armed Forces and is aimed specifically at ergonomic simulation in emergency vehicles,” explained Director Mobility at Human Solutions, Anton Preiß.
