The goal of the project is to develop a tool, in Jack © environment, capable to design an ergonomic layout of the glove compartments. Jack is a software that models and simulates human behavior and, thus, helps different industries to improve ergonomics of product designs and to refine workplace tasks. The information obtained from Jack can help to design more ergonomic products, workplaces and processes faster and at lower cost.

In Jack environment it is possible:

1. To develop in a Virtual Environment
2. To create and define a human behavior (virtual mannequin) which can be set up as “custom sized” so as it would be possible to simulate any person
3. To place a virtual mannequin (dummy) in the virtual environment in accordance to the specific criteria and logics and to interact with it by assigning different tasks to it
4. To analyze how the dummy performs these various tasks and to bring necessary ergonomic adjustments to the environment

Furthermore, Jack offers a series of options that let it be customized and that let to extend its functionalities. It is possible to create a specific menu in order to quickly access /perform a sequence of operations. Thus, the software system becomes usable even to those who has no detailed knowledge of Jack. To this scope, Jack includes API of such languages as Lisp, Python and TCL.
Through the Python code, it is possible to intervene directly on dummy’s behavior and movements. Exactly this feature has permitted to implement the glove compartments analysis tools, which is necessary to observe how a man interacts with the compartments in terms of accessibility and use.

INPUT
Following benchmark researches and usability tests conducted to evaluate the glove compartment ergonomics, more information about the rooms commonly present inside vehicles, about objects usually handled and about compartment access strategy used by people was gathered. All this information should be computerized in order to be able to check capacity and accessibility of compartments to be designed in the future.
OUTPUT:
For each type of space (e.g., low passenger dashboard, driver's door, bottle holder, card holder, etc. ..) there will be created a set of virtual items, typically placed and carried in this compartment (e.g. in a low passenger compartment the vehicle registration documents, operating instructions, emergency vest etc will be placed; in the bottle holder one can place a bottle, a mobile phone, some coins, the remote control etc. ..). Therefore, from an additional drop down menu, one can choose one or more objects to put inside the new compartment under analysis. Helped by the virtual mannequin, Jack will be able to reach this new compartment by using the specific strategy determined during usability tests.
Thus, the information, passed to the designer, would specify whether the compartment is sized and shaped appropriately for its common usage and whether the accessibility conforms to what the jury analyzed. All this is aimed to make structural changes yet at CAD level and not when a physical mock-up is ready.

TOOLS USED
Jack © software may be integrated with tools developed in:

• VC + + in regard to input data dialogs,
• Python for the Jack’s internal programming (mannequin’s movements and produced outputs)
• and TCL (Tool Command Language) for menus and the execution of Python scripts.

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