Enhancing digital human motion planning of assembly tasks through dynamics and optimal control

Better operator ergonomics in assembly plants reduce work related injuries, improve quality, productivity and reduce cost. In this paper we investigate the importance of modeling dynamics when planning for manual assembly operations. We propose modeling the dynamical human motion planning problem using the Discrete Mechanics and Optimal Control (DMOC) method, which makes it possible to optimize with respect to very general objectives. First, two industrial cases are simulated using a quasi-static inverse kinematics solver, demonstrating problems where this approach is sufficient. Then, the DMOC-method is used to solve for optimal trajectories of a lifting operation with dynamics. The resulting trajectories are compared to a steady state solution along the same path, indicating the importance of using dynamics. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.