Lecture 5: Human Factors and Ergonomics

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Lecture 5 Human Factors and Ergonomics
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Overall Goal

• Human Factors/Ergonomics seeks to adapt the work
  environment to the capabilities and limitations
  of the worker. The results should be increased
  productivity, user satisfaction, and reduced risk
  of injury.

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Early History of Human Factors

• Human Centred design began with stone tools
• Role of Warfare in human design
• Chariots, armour, weapons, etc.
• Role of Materials, Energy, and Transport
• Task specialization and organization of labour
• Industrial engineering and scientific management

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Early design examples

• Following images come from http//www.hfmgv.org
  /histories/pic/archive.html

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A Windmill (pump)
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Strad from 1703
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Classic lunchboxes
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Early telegraph set
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Steam Traction Engine
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1912 Election Ballot
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Early car
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Plough
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100 Years Ago

• operators contributed raw muscle power to their
  machine
• time and motion engineers formulated and applied
  a number of principles of motion economy
• human factors principles began to be used
  explicitly and consistently to design jobs more
  effectively and with less strain for the worker.
• design of new transportation systems provide a
  stimulus to the development of human factors.
• Controls designed with the needs and capabilities
  of human operators in mind

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World War II

• Turning point for human factors
• Radar, jet engines, atom bomb, etc.
• Increased importance of user interface (e.g.,
  altimeter)
• Increased importance of training and losses
  during training (e.g., D-day)

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Altimeter Design

• Altimeter measures how high an aircraft is
  flying
• Early altimeters were designed like analog
  clocks
• trainee pilots found it confusing (e.g., 9100
  vs. 1900)
• controlled flight into terrain problem
• Solution Digital readout plus ascent/descent
  indicator

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HF in the space age

• How do you operate the robotic arm on the space
  shuttle?
• How do you ensure that a nuclear power plant is
  completely safe?
• How can you design a helicopter interface so that
  a pilot can follow closely the contours of the
  terrain while monitoring threats and navigating?
• How do you design cell phones that are safe to
  operate while driving a vehicle?
• How do you design a suitable interface for a
  large video on demand system?

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Status of HF design

• Today, human-centred design is carried out in a
  wide range of settings, from the ocean floor to
  space.
• Each new system and technology presents a new set
  of problems to be solved.

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Case Study 1What is a safe stopping distance for
a car?
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Factors contributing to overall stopping distance

• The initial vehicle speed
• The weight of the vehicle
• The road conditions
• The reaction time of the driver
• The braking ability of the car

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Factors contributing to driver reaction time

• the visibility of the target
• the expectations of the driver
• how long the driver has been driving
• how fatigued the driver is

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Anthropometry

• concerned with the measurement of the physical
  features of people
• used in the design of seats, chairs, tables,
  computer consoles, automobile interiors,
  airplance cockpits, and many other work stations

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Reminder

• Hold regular Project Group Meetings
• Get to know your Mentoring Group
• Start work on your proposal (background research
  etc.)
• Wednesday lecture this week is on how to write
  the proposal
• Read first two chapters of text book and first
  five or six lectures at the course website
  (http//peach.mie.utoronto.ca)