OPTIMAL WORKSPACE DESIGN

GUIDED LIMB MOTION, OR REACHING FOR A VISUAL OBJECT, IS A FUNDAMENTAL TASK-ORIENTED MOVEMENT THAT UNDERLIES MANY LIVING AND WORKING ACTIVITIES. THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT PROPOSED HERE ARE TO IMPLEMENT AND VERIFY AN OPTIMALCONTROL MODEL OF GUIDED LIMB MOTION, AND TO USE THIS MODEL TO DEVELOP A SOFTWARE SYSTEM FOR THE DESIGN OF WORKSPACES THAT ARE OPTIMAL FOR HUMAN PERFORMANCE AND PRODUCTIVITY. THE SYSTEM WILL APPLY TO NORMAL, REDUCED-G, AND ZERO-G ENVIRONMENTS, AND WILL FACILITATE THE LAYOUT OF SPACECRAFT INTERIORS FOR OPERATING INSTRUMENTS, RECREATION, AND DAILY LIVING ACTIVITIES. THE INNOVATIVE FEATURES OF THE PROPOSAL ARE THE MODEL'S REALISTIC REPRESENTATION OF FUNCTIONAL REACHING AND THE APPLICATION OF OPTIMAL CONTROL SOFTWARE TO WORKSPACE DESIGN. THE WORK WILL CONSIST OF CREATING A MODEL WITH DYNAMICS FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL OUT-OF-PLANE REACHING, TARGETS IN MULTIPLE LOCATIONS AND UNDER VARYING CONDITIONS, AND A NUMBER OF PLAUSIBLE PERFORMANCE CRITERIA. VALIDATION PROCEDURES WILL BE CARRIED OUT WHICH EMPHASIZE NATURAL MOTION AND USE EQUIPMENT WHICH DOES NOT IMPEDE NORMAL MOVEMENT. THE SOFTWARE SYSTEM FOR WORKSPACE DESIGN WILL BE DEVELOPED AS AN INTERACTIVE AND PARAMETERIZED STRUCTURE, ANDWILL PRODUCE ANALYTIC AND GRAPHIC RESULTS.