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Human-Centred Design Methods: Biomechanics and Ergonomics in Industrial Design

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Industrial Technologies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2023) | Viewed by 35117

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: industrial design methods; computer-aided design; virtual prototyping; human factors and ergonomics; comfort assessment; design for ergonomics; biomechanics; human-centred design; digital human modelling; computer aided surgery
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Co-Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: industrial design methods; computer-aided design; virtual prototyping; human factors and ergonomics; comfort assessment; design for ergonomics; biomechanics; human-centred design; digital human modelling; computer aided surgery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the first appearance of hand tools, artisans and engineers have attempted to make handwork as comfortable as possible. In the second half of the twentieth century, awareness-raising activities by industrialists about ergonomics and safety made the preventive evaluation of workplace ergonomics/comfort an essential element of product/process design. Nowadays, designers and engineers know that a comfortable and ergonomic workplace can improve overall operator performance, as well as reducing the risk of musculoskeletal diseases and subsequent absence periods and insurance issues. Nevertheless, this knowledge is not always easily applied, due to its economic cost and the resultant time to market (TTM) increase.

“Ergonomics” is a Greek term (ἔργον, meaning “work”, and νόμος, meaning “natural law”) whose original meaning is “the natural law of work”. The first time that this term was used to describe work-related activity was in an 1857 article by the Polish scientist Wojciech Jastrzębowski. Its first English usage is generally attributed to British psychologist Hywel Murrell at the 1949 meeting at the UK Admiralty, which led to the foundation of The Ergonomics Society; with his famous phrase Ergonomics is “to fit the job to workers”.

After the Second World War, the concept of “fitting something to humans” (not only to workers) became a central component of user-centred design (UCD) and human-centred design (HCD).

UCD defines humans as “users” while HCD takes the term “human” to include all the elements that can interact with humans, even independently of their will, e.g., the environment or emotions.

UCD is both a broad philosophy and a method. It is concentrated not only on human characteristics and perception in general but also specific traits and features of target users to make the problem-solving potential of the designed product as high as possible from the perspective of its users.

The natural landing point of this design issue was therefore the human-centred approach. HCD techniques place humans (and their wellbeing) at the centre of the design process. Their main aim is to improve products, processes, and the environment to give users a better interactive experience. Both in the fields of health and human rights, HCD helps companies and industries to support the development of product/process strategies that improve wellbeing.

Biomechanics played a fundamental role in studying human-related activities and ergonomics under a biofidelity point of view and applied studies in this field allow us to define and individuate those factors that affect human performance during a task.

The principles of ergonomics and studies about comfort can be applied both in product and process design, and doing that in an early phase of product development allows us to reduce costs and improve the wellness of users and workers.

This Special Issue aims to share the latest knowledge and innovative application of theories and principles of ergonomics in industrial engineering.

The industry aims for comfortable products: those that can ensure the user of a comfortable experience to stay ahead of the competition. Furthermore, the workplace, with its relevant role in environmental and process design, needs to be improved for workers' health and wellness. Generally, this is true for all products with which human beings interact. 

This Special Issue welcomes all papers dealing with new methods, new technologies, new developments, and new findings in the field of applied ergonomics and applied biomechanics, with a special focus on subjective and objective analysis through computerized simulation, experimental design, in-field experiments, and statistical analyses.

Results need to be supported by relevant statistical samples or by numerical–experimental correlated models.

Regarding product design, research fields can include body support systems, such as seats and bedding, vehicle and aircraft seats and interiors, consumer products, and more.

In process and workplace design, research fields can cover ergonomics for manufacturing, human–robot cooperative systems, human in the loop, cognitive ergonomics, and workplace safety.

Topics can cover biomechanics, physiological and psychological human–product interaction, among them, product usability, fit and hold analysis, visual comfort, thermo-physiology, and perceived product quality are all of interest.

Prof. Dr. Alessandro Naddeo
Dr. Rosaria Califano
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • comfort
  • industrial design
  • human factors
  • design for ergonomics
  • biomechanics
  • human-centred design
  • digital human modelling
  • discomfort
  • product design
  • interior design
  • cabin design
  • seat comfort

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Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3311 KiB  
Article
Validation of a Horizontally Dynamic Armrest for Joystick Controlled Mobile Equipment
by Megan E. Govers, Danielle Boucher and Michele L. Oliver
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(3), 1294; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13031294 - 18 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1519
Abstract
The purpose of this work was to validate an addition to a dynamic armrest design (DA) for use during inward–outward and fore–aft joystick manipulation. The design was validated compared to a stationary armrest (SA) and no armrest (NA) using surface electromyography (EMG) and [...] Read more.
The purpose of this work was to validate an addition to a dynamic armrest design (DA) for use during inward–outward and fore–aft joystick manipulation. The design was validated compared to a stationary armrest (SA) and no armrest (NA) using surface electromyography (EMG) and a questionnaire. The DA was not successful in reducing muscle activation for inward–outward movements when compared to the SA. Furthermore, the addition of inward–outward dynamic portion negated the improvements seen with the fore–aft dynamic armrest design. Despite the lack of significant muscular activation findings, most participants preferred the DA to the SA or NA. However, unlike the fore–aft dynamic armrest, which was found to successfully reduce muscle activation in multiple muscles involved in joystick manipulation, results suggest that the horizontally dynamic support addition may not be necessary for inward and outward joystick movements. Full article
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14 pages, 1820 KiB  
Article
Safety Workplace: The Prevention of Industrial Security Risk Factors
by Vanessa C. Erazo-Chamorro, Ricardo P. Arciniega-Rocha, Nagy Rudolf, Babos Tibor and Szabo Gyula
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(21), 10726; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122110726 - 23 Oct 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4010
Abstract
“To earn a living”. The definition of work and our understanding of the workplace have changed in recent years due to the emergence of occupational health and is now a field of study under continuous improvement. Despite the fact that there is a [...] Read more.
“To earn a living”. The definition of work and our understanding of the workplace have changed in recent years due to the emergence of occupational health and is now a field of study under continuous improvement. Despite the fact that there is a huge amount of information, studies, and guidance about how to improve occupational security, the factors that must be considered in a workplace as real hazards to avoid in order to achieve a truly healthy workplace are always subject to debate. This research contributes to efforts in two important ways. The first goal assesses the information about security risk factors established and mentioned by official international institutions aimed at safety and security science by using the relationship and categorization between the identified risks during work activities performance. The second goal is to establish the necessary requirements to be fulfilled to ensure that a workplace will be considered “healthy and safe”. As a result, it is defined that the lack of ergonomics represents the most critical risk factor in order to reduce the incidence of work-related illness during the design and continuous improvement of a tailored workplace. Full article
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14 pages, 1606 KiB  
Article
Ergonomic Recommendations for Range of Control Panel Angle of Touchscreen Kitchen Appliances
by Minseok Son and Donghyun Beck
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(15), 7913; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12157913 - 7 Aug 2022
Viewed by 3245
Abstract
Control panels for kitchen appliances have been designed in various forms and with different design parameter values. Among these design parameters, the panel angle is one of the most important factors influencing the usability and user preference. However, few studies have been conducted [...] Read more.
Control panels for kitchen appliances have been designed in various forms and with different design parameter values. Among these design parameters, the panel angle is one of the most important factors influencing the usability and user preference. However, few studies have been conducted regarding the panel angle effects in the context of kitchen appliances. There are only a few safety-oriented regulations or guidelines for kitchen appliance design. Therefore, in this study, the effect of the control panel angle of touchscreen kitchen appliances on their usability was empirically investigated for providing appropriate ergonomic recommendations. A total of six panel angles, namely, 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°, were employed in the experiment in consideration of the design parameter values used in existing slide-in/freestanding ranges. Three usability evaluation measures, namely, visibility, physical comfort, and preference, were employed. For each of the six panel angles, 20 participants performed temperature/power-level setting tasks and then subjectively rated the panel angle in terms of the three measures. The following major findings were obtained: (1) the control panel angle affected the scores of all three measures; and (2) when considering visibility, physical comfort, and preference comprehensively, the panel angle ranges 15°–42° and 15°–19° were recommended as the appropriate and optimal ranges, respectively. The findings of this study may be helpful in the ergonomic design of touchscreen panels for kitchen appliances, which can improve the usability of these panels and reduce human errors and response time in emergencies. Full article
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16 pages, 3695 KiB  
Article
Computer Aided Orthognathic Surgery: A General Method for Designing and Manufacturing Personalized Cutting/Repositioning Templates
by Liliana Di Brigida, Alessandro Naddeo, Nicola Cappetti, Antonio Borri and Antonio Cortese
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(7), 3600; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12073600 - 1 Apr 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2544
Abstract
Orthognathic surgery allows broad-spectrum deformity correction involving both aesthetic and functional aspects on the TMJ (temporo-mandibular joint) and on the facial skull district. The combination of Reverse Engineering (RE), Virtual Surgery Planning (VSP), Computer Aided Design (CAD), Additive Manufacturing (AM), and 3D visualization [...] Read more.
Orthognathic surgery allows broad-spectrum deformity correction involving both aesthetic and functional aspects on the TMJ (temporo-mandibular joint) and on the facial skull district. The combination of Reverse Engineering (RE), Virtual Surgery Planning (VSP), Computer Aided Design (CAD), Additive Manufacturing (AM), and 3D visualization allows surgeons to plan, virtually, manipulations and the translation of the human parts in the operating room. This work’s aim was to define a methodology, in the form of a workflow, for surgery planning and for designing and manufacturing templates for orthognathic surgery. Along the workflow, the error chain was checked and the maximum error in virtual planning was evaluated. The three-dimensional reconstruction of the mandibular shape and bone fragment movements after segmentation allow complete planning of the surgery and, following the proposed method, the introduction of both the innovative evaluation of the transversal intercondylar distance variation after mandibular arch advancement/set and the possibility of use of standard plates to plan and realize a customized surgery. The procedure was adopted in one clinical case on a patient affected by a class III malocclusion with an associated open bite and right deviation of the mandible with expected good results. Compared with the methods from most recent literature, the presented method introduces two elements of novelty and improves surgery results by optimizing costs and operating time. A new era of collaboration among surgeons and engineer has begun and is now bringing several benefits in personalized surgery. Full article
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21 pages, 26704 KiB  
Article
A Preliminary Experimental Study on the Workers’ Workload Assessment to Design Industrial Products and Processes
by Agnese Brunzini, Margherita Peruzzini, Fabio Grandi, Riccardo Karim Khamaisi and Marcello Pellicciari
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(24), 12066; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112412066 - 17 Dec 2021
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4141
Abstract
The human-centered design (HCD) approach places humans at the center of design in order to improve both products and processes, and to give users an effective, efficient and satisfying interactive experience. In industrial design and engineering, HCD is very useful in helping to [...] Read more.
The human-centered design (HCD) approach places humans at the center of design in order to improve both products and processes, and to give users an effective, efficient and satisfying interactive experience. In industrial design and engineering, HCD is very useful in helping to achieve the novel Industry 5.0 concept, based on improving workers’ wellbeing by providing prosperity beyond jobs and growth, while respecting the production limits of the planet as recently promoted by the European Commission. In this context, the paper proposes an ergonomic assessment method based on the analysis of the workers’ workload to support the design of industrial products and processes. This allows the simultaneous analysis of the physical and cognitive workload of operators while performing their tasks during their shift. The method uses a minimum set of non-invasive wearable devices to monitor human activity and physiological parameters, in addition to questionnaires for subjective self-assessment. The method has been preliminarily tested on a real industrial case in order to demonstrate how it can help companies to support the design of optimized products and processes promoting the workers’ wellbeing. Full article
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14 pages, 9622 KiB  
Article
Effect of Parameters on Lumbar Compressive Force during Patient Transfer
by Xiaohan Xiang, Yoji Yamada, Yasuhiro Akiyama, Hibiki Nakamura and Naoki Kudo
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(24), 11622; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112411622 - 7 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2796
Abstract
Patient transfer (PT) tasks are a significant cause of low back pain (LBP) in caregivers. Adopting proper motion strategies is an effective and inexpensive approach to reduce the risk of LBP. However, since the standardization of PT tasks is not specified in ISO [...] Read more.
Patient transfer (PT) tasks are a significant cause of low back pain (LBP) in caregivers. Adopting proper motion strategies is an effective and inexpensive approach to reduce the risk of LBP. However, since the standardization of PT tasks is not specified in ISO 11228, there is an increasing need to develop a quantitative assessment method for the lumbar safety of caregivers. Therefore, we aim to determine the effect of representative factors, extracted from caregivers’ movements and of external force, on peak compressive force (CF) in patient transfer tasks using the lumbar compressive force as a criterion. The CF at the lumbar region is estimated using a biomechanical simulator, and regression analysis is performed between the estimated CF and representative factors. The results imply that peak CF occurs in the incipience of transfer and occurs after the occurrence of the peak trunk angle. The results also indicate that the peak CF can be reduced by preventing the representative factors from simultaneously reaching the maximum values. In this study, we provide a method of reducing peak CF by estimating the timing and magnitude of the peak to help caregivers assess the severity of LBP risk in actual PT, which is expected to contribute to the standardization of PT tasks. Full article
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12 pages, 1527 KiB  
Article
New Affordable Method for Measuring Angular Variations Caused by High Heels on the Sagittal Plane of Feet Joints during Gait
by Jose S. Velázquez, Arsenio M. Iznaga-Benítez, Amanda Robau-Porrúa, Francisco L. Sáez-Gutiérrez and Francisco Cavas
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(12), 5605; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11125605 - 17 Jun 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2190
Abstract
Gait is influenced by many factors, but one of the most prominent ones is shoe heel height. Optical motion tracking technology is widely used to analyze high-heeled gait, but it normally involves several high-quality cameras and licensed software, so clinics and researchers with [...] Read more.
Gait is influenced by many factors, but one of the most prominent ones is shoe heel height. Optical motion tracking technology is widely used to analyze high-heeled gait, but it normally involves several high-quality cameras and licensed software, so clinics and researchers with low budgets cannot afford them. This article presents a simple, effective technique to measure the rotation angles on the sagittal plane of the ankle (tibiotalar) and toe (metatarsophalangeal) joints when no shoes (0 cm heel) and high-heeled shoes (2, 6 and 10 cm heels) are worn. The foot’s position was determined by a set of equations based on its geometry and video analysis techniques with free software (Tracker). An evaluation of the spatio-temporal variables confirmed observations from previous studies: increasing heel heights reduces gait cycle length and speed but does not change cadence. The range of movement at the tibiotalar joint progressively narrowed from 28° when no heel height was worn to 9° when a 10 cm heel was used, and these reductions ranged from 30° to 5° for metatarsophalangeal joints, respectively. This aligns with other authors’ previous studies, and confirms that the proposed method accurately measures kinematic ankle–foot set changes when wearing high heels. Full article
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12 pages, 4330 KiB  
Article
Influence of Various Types of Office Desk Chair for Dynamizing the Operation Assessed by Raster Stereography
by Ľuboslav Dulina, Arkadiusz Gola, Martin Gašo, Blanka Horváthová, Eleonóra Bigošová, Miroslava Barbušová, Dariusz Plinta and Jiří Kyncl
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(11), 4910; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11114910 - 26 May 2021
Viewed by 2495
Abstract
The current development trend of the operational activities indicates an increase in occupations which last for a few generations and whose primary position is the activity in the sitting position. This trend is directly connected with the technological progress and development of the [...] Read more.
The current development trend of the operational activities indicates an increase in occupations which last for a few generations and whose primary position is the activity in the sitting position. This trend is directly connected with the technological progress and development of the society within Industry 4.0. However, the workplaces intended for sitting occupations that are designed according to the current standards are unsuitable from several perspectives. The long-term sitting activities at most actual workplaces cause an accumulation of the static load. For this reason, the article deals with dynamizing the activities in the sitting position. The presented research is based on utilizing the knowledge of the sitting posture dynamics and on the information acquired through diagnostics based on the Raster Stereography as an innovative method based on modelling a natural human spin. The article brings the first research results, which points out the fact that probably not all types of dynamic sitting that are nowadays preferred are suitable for long-term working. Full article
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13 pages, 1683 KiB  
Article
A Resource Constrained Neural Network for the Design of Embedded Human Posture Recognition Systems
by Gian Domenico Licciardo, Alessandro Russo, Alessandro Naddeo, Nicola Cappetti, Luigi Di Benedetto, Alfredo Rubino and Rosalba Liguori
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(11), 4752; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11114752 - 21 May 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2436
Abstract
A custom HW design of a Fully Convolutional Neural Network (FCN) is presented in this paper to implement an embeddable Human Posture Recognition (HPR) system capable of very high accuracy both for laying and sitting posture recognition. The FCN exploits a new base-2 [...] Read more.
A custom HW design of a Fully Convolutional Neural Network (FCN) is presented in this paper to implement an embeddable Human Posture Recognition (HPR) system capable of very high accuracy both for laying and sitting posture recognition. The FCN exploits a new base-2 quantization scheme for weight and binarized activations to meet the optimal trade-off between low power dissipation, a very reduced set of instantiated physical resources and state-of-the-art accuracy to classify human postures. By using a limited number of pressure sensors only, the optimized HW implementation allows keeping the computation close to the data sources according to the edge computing paradigm and enables the design of embedded HP systems. The FCN can be simply reconfigured to be used for laying and sitting posture recognition. Tested on a public dataset for in-bed posture classification, the proposed FCN obtains a mean accuracy value of 96.77% to recognize 17 different postures, while a small custom dataset has been used for training and testing for sitting posture recognition, where the FCN achieves 98.88% accuracy to recognize eight positions. The FCN has been prototyped on a Xilinx Artix 7 FPGA where it exhibits a dynamic power dissipation lower than 11 mW and 7 mW for laying and sitting posture recognition, respectively, and a maximum operation frequency of 47.64 MHz and 26.6 MHz, corresponding to an Output Data Rate (ODR) of the sensors of 16.50 kHz and 9.13 kHz, respectively. Furthermore, synthesis results with a CMOS 130 nm technology have been reported, to give an estimation about the possibility of an in-sensor circuital implementation. Full article
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18 pages, 722 KiB  
Article
Understanding Balance Control in the Context of Riding a Personal Mobility Device
by Donggun Park, Yushin Lee and Myunghwan Yun
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 4173; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11094173 - 3 May 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1838
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating the human ability to shift weight and maintain balance when driving a self-balancing personal mobility device (SPMD). In the experiment, participants performed a weight-shifting task, which is moving the center of pressure (COP) toward 15 targets comprising three [...] Read more.
This study aimed at investigating the human ability to shift weight and maintain balance when driving a self-balancing personal mobility device (SPMD). In the experiment, participants performed a weight-shifting task, which is moving the center of pressure (COP) toward 15 targets comprising three distances and five directions. They were also given a maintaining balance task, which is holding the COP as close as possible to the same targets. The results showed that during the weight-shifting task, the target distance significantly increased the movement time and decreased the movement fluency and accuracy. In the balance control task, while the target distance significantly affected the postural stability, the target direction had no major effect, although there were interaction effects with the direction on the postural sway along the medial–lateral direction. It is expected that this study can help in understanding the balance control of humans and design safer SPMDs. Full article
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17 pages, 1932 KiB  
Article
Validation of Lumbar Compressive Force Simulation in Forward Flexion Condition
by Xiaohan Xiang, Yoji Yamada, Yasuhiro Akiyama, Ziliang Tao and Naoki Kudo
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(2), 726; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11020726 - 13 Jan 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3316
Abstract
Safety standard requirements must be implemented for lumbar support robots, which are mainly used for preventing low back pain (LBP) in caregivers. Usually, simulations are used to mimic actions that are not allowed for a real person. However, a comprehensive validation of a [...] Read more.
Safety standard requirements must be implemented for lumbar support robots, which are mainly used for preventing low back pain (LBP) in caregivers. Usually, simulations are used to mimic actions that are not allowed for a real person. However, a comprehensive validation of a simulator in dynamic conditions has not been conducted. In this study, an ergonomic simulator is validated through forward flexion invasive experiments. The correspondence between the simulated and experimental compressive force (CF), as well as the CF obtained using two existing models about the unified angle, is investigated. The results show that the CF error between the measurements and the simulator at a flexion angle of 30 is 11.8% and is lower than those obtained for the other two models (16.8% and 20.6%). Linear regression shows that the invasive data and estimated CF are close (slope = 1) in Merryweather’s model and CF simulator but not for Potvin’s model. We evaluate the precision of the simulator by using intraclass correlation coefficient method. Merryweather’s model is moderately consistent with invasive measurements, with R–0.685 and 0.627 at 0 and 30, while the CF simulator shows good consistency with Merryweather’s model with R–0.879 and 0836 at 0 and 30. Full article
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14 pages, 2044 KiB  
Article
Two-Dimensional Symmetric Box Delivery Motion Prediction and Validation: Subtask-Based Optimization Method
by Yujiang Xiang, Shadman Tahmid, Paul Owens and James Yang
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(24), 8798; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10248798 - 9 Dec 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1612
Abstract
Box delivery is a complicated manual material handling task which needs to consider the box weight, delivering speed, stability, and location. This paper presents a subtask-based inverse dynamic optimization formulation for determining the two-dimensional (2D) symmetric optimal box delivery motion. For the subtask-based [...] Read more.
Box delivery is a complicated manual material handling task which needs to consider the box weight, delivering speed, stability, and location. This paper presents a subtask-based inverse dynamic optimization formulation for determining the two-dimensional (2D) symmetric optimal box delivery motion. For the subtask-based formulation, the delivery task is divided into five subtasks: lifting, the first transition step, carrying, the second transition step, and unloading. To render a complete delivering task, each subtask is formulated as a separate optimization problem with appropriate boundary conditions. For carrying and lifting subtasks, the cost function is the sum of joint torque squared. In contrast, for transition subtasks, the cost function is the combination of joint discomfort and joint torque squared. Joint angle profiles are validated through experimental results using Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) and root-mean-square-error (RMSE). Results show that the subtask-based approach is computationally efficient for complex box delivery motion simulation. This research outcome provides a practical guidance to prevent injury risks in joint torque space for workers who deliver heavy objects in their daily jobs. Full article
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