Evaluation of interior truck ergonomics through a digital twin approach

Abstract: Industries of today are constantly making changes and advancing towards a future with the purpose of innovation, improvement and sustainability. New technologies give the opportunities to make advantages in a number of fields and adapt new methodologies to their processes and products; in this project, we are going to study the application of digital twins in the automotive sector, focusing on the ergonomic evaluation of an interior truck cabin by using motion capture system and DHM tools.A number of 6 participants have been tested with Xsens motion capture performing different tasks related to reachability, storage and comfort inside the truck cabin. Their actions get recorded and implemented in an evaluation software called ScaleFit, which provides numerical results for several parts of the body in terms of position and force. Selecting the appropriate criteria for evaluating the ergonomics is essential to make a proper analysis of how the workplace affects the user and vice versa. On the other hand, the DHM software IPS-IMMA has been employed to simulate the exact postures adopted by the participants with a digital truck model and mannikins with the same dimensions. Both methods are compared to study to what degree they are able to give the necessary feedback to evaluate in a realistic and accurate way.The results obtained show an advantage for motion capture systems rather than DHM tools. However, by getting improvements in the software and new types of data to implement, we could be able to state that both technologies are near the same level of accuracy and proper application for a digital twin process in trucks and vehicles. We consider this methodology quite appropriate for companies with the purpose of making ergonomics analyses and other issues that relate to the design and development of trucks and vehicles. Also, different processes and types of digital twin approach have been realised depending on the tool employed and the flow of information, including digital twin itself, digital shadow and digital model. Although these processes have been realised to perform the experimental part in the most optimal way, they can be somewhat abstract to be established for a certain application,so the methodology employed for this project could vary for another company’s purpose.