ISE 311: Ergonomics & Work Measurement



ISE 311: Ergonomics & Work Measurement

Anthropometry Laboratory

(Due: Wednesday, January 24, 2007)

Purpose:

Through this lab, you should gain an understanding of how anthropometric data is collected and analyzed.

Equipment:

Large anthropometer, yardstick, or tape measure

(Optional) Pencil, pen, or small ruler

Data sheet (attached)

Procedure:

This lab is to be completed individually. You will be measuring the elbow-fingertip distance and forward reach of a minimum of 10 adults selected at random. Try to get a mixture of men and women for your measurements and make sure they have not already volunteered for someone else.

1. Record the name of the subject (to insure no duplicate measures) and indicate whether the subject is male or female on the data sheet.

2. To measure the forearm length, have the subject stand with his/her arm bent perpendicular to the body and fingers straight. The little finger should be parallel to the floor.

3. Measure the distance from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. This is the elbow-fingertip distance. Record this measurement on the data sheet. (Note: when using a yardstick or tape measure it may be easier to measure this distance using a pencil, pen, or small ruler against the elbow to define the endpoint.)

4. Next, have the subject stand with arm stretched out in front but not overextended (that is, the shoulder should remain straight and square with the body). Again, the little finger should be parallel to the floor.

5. Measure the distance from the shoulder to the tip of the thumb. This is the forward reach. Record this measurement on the data sheet.

6. Repeat with additional subjects selected at random until you have measured the elbow-fingertip distance and forward reach of a minimum of 10 subjects. Create a table in Excel using the format specified in class (see attached.) Send this spreadsheet to the listserv and bring a printout to class on Monday, January 22.

Results:

1. Calculate the mean and standard deviation of your individual data set. Using the percentile function in Excel, calculate the 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 95th percentiles of the data, as follows: Select percentile from the function menu. Select the array of data. Enter in the percentile value (i.e., 0.05, 0.1, etc.) Repeat for all required percentile values.

2. Compile the data sent to you by your classmates as an aggregate (all data together) and separated by gender. Create histograms of this data (one each for male, female, and aggregate data). Does the data appear to be normally distributed (either by group or in the aggregate)?

3. Using the combined data set, develop a table indicating 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 95th percentiles by gender and in the aggregate. Include the percentile results from your data set (aggregate) for comparison.

4. Compare your results to standard anthropometric data found in Table 5.1 on page 64 of your textbook. (Note: you may need to convert units.)

5. (Extra credit.) Perform a goodness-of-fit test to determine if the compiled data set (from the entire class) is normally distributed.

Conclusions:

1. Briefly summarize the results and state whether you feel they provide a reasonable representation of elbow-fingertip distance and forward reach for a given population. Describe the ‘population’ for which these results are applicable or intended?

2. Discuss any insights you have gained from the data on your individual data and, if applicable, the data from others in the class.

3. Discuss the real usefulness of this data from an engineering design viewpoint. How might an engineer or designer use the information? What would be required in order for this to be really useful?

Note: because this is the first lab assignment in ISE 311, I have provided a lab report template on the course website. Please refer to this template when completing this and all future lab assignments.

ISE 311: Ergonomics & Work Measurement

Anthropometry Laboratory

Data Collection Sheet

|Name: |M / F |Elbow-fingertip length |Forward Reach |

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Excel Spreadsheet Format:

[pic]

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