Determining Spinal Posture for Encumbered Airmen in Crewstations Using the Luna Positioning Sensor
Abstract
A major thrust of the U.S. Air Force anthropometric engineering mission is to develop analytical and statistical tools to be applied to the databases to characterize design-relevant body size and shape variation as it applies to our service personnel. Of particular interest is cockpit accommodation using subjects representing variability in body size and equipped with aircrew flight equipment including helmet systems, protective equipment, survival gear, restraints, and flight clothing. This equipped human subject pool is used to map the accommodation issues and train the human figure models to reproduce their size, proportions, and performance. Essentially, this mapping process links the anthropometry of the subjects to their performance in the mockups. Through regression analysis, resulting maximum and minimum anthropometric values are quantified and used to determine accommodation levels (percentage accommodation) during normal and emergency operation and if requirements are met. Of importance is the fidelity of the models used to assess accommodation. As such, the anthropometric engineering team continues to improve data collection methods and modeling techniques to build confidence in virtual assessments. For this effort, the Luna, Inc. fiber optic positioning sensor was evaluated to determine the utility of this lightweight, miniature technology to track spine posture and position. Results show that the Luna fiber optic sensor will make an excellent tool to collect spinal posture data that will increase the fidelity of our digital human figure modeling as well as biodynamic modeling.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1052905
Entities
People
- Brian Rife
- Jeffrey A. Hudson
- Jennifer Whitestone
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory