Engineering

Anthropometry

Yassierli, PhD
yassierli@mail.ti.itb.ac.id

Design concept?

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 Anthropometry as a Science
 Engineering anthropometry is a branch of science
originating from anthropology that attempts to describe
the physical dimensions of the (human) body.

 Can be separated into:

 Physical (Static) anthropometry – which addresses basic
physical dimensions of the body.

 Functional anthropometry – concerned with physical

dimensions of the body relevant to particular activities or tasks.

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 Applied Anthropometry

Applications
 Tools design
 Consumer product design
 Workplace design
 Interior design

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Factors Affecting Anthropometrical
Variation

Age
Gender
Race & Ethnic
Socio-economics
Occupation
Life style

Human variation

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 Sample Anthropometric Data

From Chaffin, DB et al (1999) Occupational

Biomechanics, Table 3.10

Design Approaches
 Design for extremes/percentiles
 emphasize one 'tail' of distribution
 Design for average
 emphasize the center of a population distribution
 Design for adjustability
 emphasize that all potential users/consumers are
'equal’
 Varying ranges of accommodation:
 5th-95th %ile: typical
 25th-75 %ile: less critical functions or infrequent use
 1st - 99th %ile: more critical functions +/- low $
 0.01 - 99.99 %ile: risk of severe outcomes

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 Costs of Adjustability
Costs of Costs of
Manuf. & Inconven.
Shipping to User

0 1 2 3
Adjustability
Adjustability
(#sd ± the
(#sd ± the mean of
mean of attribute)
attribute)

Total
Costs minimum cost
solution

General Strategies and

Recommendations
 Design for Average:
 Usually the worst approach: both larger and smaller users
won’t be accommodated
 Design for Extremes/Percentiles:
 Clearance: use 95th percentile male
 Reach: use 5th percentile female
 Safety: accommodate >99% of population
 Design for Adjustability
 Preferred method, but range and degrees of adjustment are
difficult to specify

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Anthropometrical Design Procedures
1. Determine dimensions of product which are critical
for design (considering effectiveness, safety and
comfort)
2. Determine the related body dimensions
3. Select user population (who will use the product or
workplace)
4. Conduct reference study to find secondary data, if
available (considering population characteristics) or
conduct measurement
5. Select percentile

Measurement Devices

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8
 Percentile

 Commonly used: 5th, 95th, 50th (median)

 Lower-limit dimension: the smaller the
system, the more unusable by the largest
user -> Use high percentile
 Upper-limit dimension: the bigger the
system, the more unusable by smallest user
-> Use low percentile

Sample Anthropometric Data

From Chaffin, DB et al (1999) Occupational

Biomechanics, Table 3.10

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 Anthropometric Data: Populations
 Means () and standard deviations () are
typically reported for anthropometric data
(often separated by gender)
 Use of these value implicitly assumes a
Normal distribution. Assumption is
reasonable for most human data.
 Percentiles can easily be calculated from
mean and std.dev. using these formulas
and/or standard statistical tables (usually z).

Standard Normal Variate

 Z = (y-)/
 Normally distributed with mean = 0 and variance = 1
 z is N(0,1)

 From tables of normal cumulative probabilities

 P{z≤z(A)} = A
 Example: if zA = 2, A = 0.9772 (two std.dev. above
mean is the 97.7%-ile)
 Properties of z:
 zA > 0; above mean (>50%-ile)
 zA = 0; at mean (50%-ile)

 zA < 0; below mean (<50%-ile)

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X
Normal
Distribution
Table

Percentile Example
 For female stature (from Table)
  = 160.5 cm
  = 6.6 cm
 What female stature represents the 37.5th %-ile?
 From normal distribution:
z(37.5%) = -0.32
Thus, X(37.5%) =  + z
= 160.5 - (0.32)(6.6)
= 158.4 cm

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 Design for Extremes
 Example: Door Height
 Assuming a normal distribution
 z = (X - )/
 Obtain z => %-ile from stats table
 What height to accommodate? (95th%-ile male)
  = 69”;  = 2.8” (from anthropometric table)
 z0.95 = 1.645 = (X - 69)/2.8 => X = 73.6”
 Additional allowances?
 Hair
 Hats and shoes
 Gait
 Etc.

Examples
Which design strategy should be employed?

 leg clearance at a work table

 finger clearance for a recessed button
 height of an overhead conveyor system
 grip size for a power tool
 weight of a power tool
 height of a conveyor
 strength required to turn off an emergency valve

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 Homework
FEEDBACK
CONTOH PROJECT

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