A computer-aided design-based system for posture analyses of motorcycles

This paper presents a computer-aided design (CAD)-based system for ergonomics analyses of motorcycles, which includes three-dimensional models of vehicle configurations and equipment, three-dimensional human models of various anthropometries and evaluative techniques to assess reach and postures. The system is based on a modular structure that integrates an established top-down computer-aided design framework for motorcycle design, a widely used anthropometric database and specific behavioural criteria defined by an experimental procedure correlating driving postures and vehicle configurations. As a result, vehicle designers are able to use a single analysis tool to prognosticate and assess postural comfort, from the earliest stages of the design process. In the paper, issues in vehicle design with reference to ergonomics assumptions and posture evaluations by a computerized system are discussed.