ERGONOMICS AND HUMAN FACTORS FOR THE AEROSPACE AND SPACE SECTOR
Did you know that the Canadian Space Agency is committed to Space Health? Ergonovix offers innovative projects and services in the field of space and aerospace health.
Ergonomics of controls
Ergonomics Space Health Projects
Ergonomic assessment of the reach, physical and visual obstructions of controls, and levers for different anthropometries to meet certification standards.
Choice of controls, the direction of movement, identification according to lettering, and color specifications. Adhere to the philosophy of simplicity to facilitate reading and cognitive orientation between systems.
Studies and analyzes flight operations at the physical and cognitive level.
Ergonovix is looking for partners to lead space health projects
Musculoskeletal disorders in the context of microgravity and reduced gravity in the context of manufacturing operations and the habitability of the Moon and Mars are not yet known. Ergonovix offers to collaborate on knowledge development to provide guides for future astronauts/space workers.
Physical and mental health are crucial elements to consider in the design of living and working spaces for long-duration space missions. Jeanne Guérin completed a master’s degree in Ergonomics-Human Factors and Industrial Design for the context of microgravity and acquired hands-on experience in the industry in the space and aerospace field. You can count on her expertise to bring your projects to a high standard.
Ergonomics Space Health Projects
Ergonovix is looking for partners to lead space health projects
Musculoskeletal disorders in the context of microgravity and reduced gravity in the context of manufacturing operations and the habitability of the Moon and Mars are not yet known. Ergonovix offers to collaborate on knowledge development to provide guides for future astronauts/space workers.
Physical and mental health are crucial elements to consider in the design of living and working spaces for long-duration space missions. Jeanne Guérin completed a master’s degree in Ergonomics-Human Factors and Industrial Design for the context of microgravity and acquired hands-on experience in the industry in the space and aerospace field. You can count on her expertise to bring your projects to a high standard.
Virtual ergonomics and Digital Human Modeling (DHM)
Verification and validation
Virtual ergonomics allows you to check your 3D models, directly in your CAD design software, to establish the bases on which to develop your projects such as volumes to reserve, areas to avoid, and dimensions required so that users can manipulate controls and operate equipment optimally.
Development of test protocols and other methods to validate concepts, products and environments to ensure their relevance in order to optimize and reduce the costs of your projects.
Verification and validation
Development of test protocols and other methods to validate concepts, products and environments to ensure their relevance in order to optimize and reduce the costs of your projects.
Standards, specifications & certification
Training, mentoring and coaching
The certification process is long and expensive. We help you optimize your process to meet design standards and to write design guides and specifications to avoid litigation and rework. Meeting standards upstream, at the design stage, is quality assurance.
Ergonovix training courses are offered to engineers and technicians wishing to improve their skills in the use of the 3D digital human model and to acquire the basics of design principles in ergonomics. Ergonovix also trains mechanics to use best practices, tools, and equipment to avoid injury while working.
Ergonovix guides you through moments of transition with our knowledge transfer service. Ergonovix offers expertise to accelerate the development of your products, environments by avoiding errors and training the next generation.
Training, mentoring and coaching
Ergonovix training courses are offered to engineers and technicians wishing to improve their skills in the use of the 3D digital human model and to acquire the basics of design principles in ergonomics. Ergonovix also trains mechanics to use best practices, tools, and equipment to avoid injury while working.
Ergonovix guides you through moments of transition with our knowledge transfer service. Ergonovix offers expertise to accelerate the development of your products, environments by avoiding errors and training the next generation.
WHY ERGONOMICS IS A FUNDAMENTAL HEALTH DISCIPLINE IN THE FIELD OF SPACE AND AEROSPACE?
Ergonomics is a fundamental discipline for maintaining the health of pilots, astronauts and mechanics in the aerospace and space industry. It should be understood that these professions in return are responsible for the health of all of us.
The pilots are responsible for transporting us safely to our destination while the mechanics are responsible for ensuring the quality of the build and the maintenance of the planes. We all know the courage of astronauts risking their lives on their space missions. These missions often aim to study and observe the Earth in a way that preserves the quality of our living environment and our collective health.
Can you imagine cockpits without any concern for Human Factors and Ergonomics? Aren’t the risks of human error high when piloting an aircraft? What about the resulting consequences? What about fatigue and reduced performances caused by disrupted circadian cycles? There are good reasons why air travel is so safe. One of those reasons is the expertise that Ergonomists bring to the design phase of a new airplane program. They ensure that pilots can perform their tasks without clutter and obstructions in an efficient and safe environment, according to federal aviation regulations. The profession of Human Factors/Ergonomics aims at creating an environment where pilots can focus on their task without distractions, reach the controls without hesitation and take the right decisions at the right time.
Mechanics are more often than not forced to work in difficult conditions to perform their jobs. Ergonomists are attentive to the tasks that mechanics perform during their daily operations. These experts are consulted to help improve work postures, reduce repetitive tasks and manual lifting. When mechanics are more comfortable while performing their tasks, their fatigue level is more manageable and fewer mistakes are made. Such mistakes can lead to catastrophic in-flight situations. In addition, improving workstations ergonomics helps to reduce physical and mental fatigue that can lead to potentially fatal accidents in high-risk workplaces.
Astronauts face significant changes in their health when operating in microgravity for extended periods of time. The Canadian Space Agency focuses on space health as an important discipline of its space program. In various organizations around the world, Human Factors specialists and ergonomists are part of teams dedicated to ensure the health of astronauts. Astronaut’s lives in micro gravity are challenged with deteriorating bones, relocation of fluids in the upper body, neutral posture adaptation, specific to microgravity, trips that must be planned in every little details. Life and work tasks performed according to the laws of microgravity, in a confined environment under a high stress level (solar radiation, extreme environment ), also affect mental health. Ergonomics is a fundamental discipline for space health.
Ergonomics experts rescue workers and people by establishing, among other things, good procedures, best practices and by checking and validating proposed concepts to design out errors and injuries. They verify that the function of the product is aligned with the task and that the task is performed according to the human operator’s capabilities and not the other way around. As humans are very adaptable, certain practices have been used where humans were assigned to inadequate workstations. It was thought that it was more economical to fit people to the machine than reworking a machinery to fit the humans. This school of though is disappearing now that we know the burden an injury causes to the people, the company and the society. The ergonomist often brings on a multidisciplinary expertise according to a systemic model aimed at understanding all the aspects surrounding human work, to restore the proper functioning of the human-machine system. Ergonomics in the space and aerospace sector is a fundamental discipline for the mental and physical health of pilots, astronauts, workers, but also of us all.
