An Estimation Method of Representative Humanoids for Digital Human Simulation

Objective: The present study developed an estimation method of boundary zone representative humanoids(hereafter, EBZ method) using descriptive statistics on the design target population. Background: The boundary zone method(hereafter, BZ method) generates representative humanoids at a boundary zone that statistically accommodates a designated percent of the design target population; however, the BZ method has a practical limitation because it requires a large scale anthropometric database on the design target population. Method: The EBZ method developed in the present study consisted of 3 steps. In the first step, the boundary zone of accommodating a designated percent(e.g., 90%) is formed under the assumption of normal distributions for anthropometric sizes. In the second step, cases that fall within the boundary zone are estimated using descriptive statistics(mean, standard deviation, and covariance) on the design target population. In the last step, K-mean cluster analysis is conducted for the cases, and representative humanoids are selected from each of clusters. Results: Evaluation results showed that mean accommodation percent of the EBZ method was 90.9%(range: 90.8~91.1%) which is similar to the target percent(90%). In addition, standard deviation of accommodation percent for 100 repetitions was 0.1%. Lastly, the number of representative humanoids generated by the EBZ method(n = 20) was similar to the BZ method(n = 16). Conclusion: The EBZ method can generate representative humanoids which accommodate a designated percent of the design target population using descriptive statistics. Application: The EBZ method can be utilized in the generation of humanoids for ergonomic design and evaluation of products when the large scale anthropometric database on the design target population is not existed.