PROBLEMS OF MODELLING AND SIMULATION IN ERGONOMICS: TRANSPORT-RELATED ISSUES

摘要

Ergonomics is an interdisciplinary area that integrates technical, medical and fundamental sciences. As in other sciences, scientific development in ergonomics, formerly based on the conventional iteration of the "theory-experimentation" dyad, is being replaced the iteration of the "theory-experimentation-simulation" triad, simulation meaning experimentation done using a mathematical model implemented in a computer software environment. What simulation methods are used in ergonomics, and what is their scope of application? This paper is an attempt to address this question. And since the essence of ergonomics lies in analysing the mutual relationships between man and machine, the main focus is on the modelling of man. In view of the degree of the problem's complexity, the authors of the paper believe that the particular type of the machine linked with man in such a relationship must be likewise taken into account. Such "machines" include technical means of transport (road and rail vehicles, aircraft). The paper analyses the following simulation models of man: 1. anthropometrical models, 2. biomechanical models (including original proprietary biomechanical models), 3. heuristic models (including proprietary models). One important process in the development of simulation models is their identification and verification. This process can take on a different character depending on the type of the model.