Computer aided techniques for crew station design: work-space organizer-WORG; workstation layout generator-WOLAG

Area of Science:

• Human Factors and Ergonomics
• Aerospace Engineering
• Industrial Design

Background:

• Effective crew station design is critical for operational efficiency and safety in various environments.
• Previous design methods often lack systematic approaches for optimizing workstation and instrument panel layouts.
• The need for interactive tools to support the iterative process of crew station design is well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and describe two interactive computational models for crew station design: WORG and WOLAG.
• To detail the functionalities of WORG for workstation arrangement and WOLAG for instrument panel layout generation.
• To present the evaluative measures collected by these models and discuss their input, structure, and output.

Main Methods:

• Development of WORG (Workstation Layout Generator) for arranging workstations within a defined workspace.
• Development of WOLAG (Workstation Layout Generator for Adjustable-duty) for generating instrument panel layouts for sit-stand duty.
• Discussion of the input data requirements, internal algorithmic structure, and output file formats for both models.
• Inclusion of sample outputs to illustrate the practical application and results of the models.

Main Results:

• WORG provides a systematic method for optimizing the spatial arrangement of workstations.
• WOLAG generates specific instrument panel layouts suitable for dynamic sit-stand operational requirements.
• Both models successfully collect quantitative evaluative measures to assess the generated designs.

Conclusions:

• WORG and WOLAG offer valuable interactive tools for enhancing crew station design processes.
• These models facilitate the creation of more efficient, ergonomic, and adaptable crew workstations.
• The detailed discussion of model components and sample outputs aids in their understanding and potential implementation.