Human-Machine System Design Of Loader Based On Kansei Engineering

Along with the User Center design recognized gradually, the traditional human-machine relationship is changing as well. The focus of man-machine system has transferred from the "machine" elements to the "human" factors. In the human-machine system design, how to properly play the leading role of human to guide the product of human-based design? How to deal with the emotional factors in product design and to make users get physical and psychological satisfaction? How to introduce new techniques to make the product evaluation more objective? These issues have attracted our attention.Loader is a commonly used construction machinery which plays an important role in China’s economic development. This study, according to the actual situation of domestic enterprises, introduced Kansei engineering technology to the design of human-machine system of loaders, establishing human-centered design, and thus to support developing new products which may much more fulfill the users’requirements, and to provides a theoretical practical and basis for the Kansei Engineering study of domestic scholars as well.Based on the previous achievements, this study established a new model of human-machine systems to make a profound analysis on the inter relationship of production factors, economic factors, human factors and environmental factors, and explores the application of human-machine systems in product design. It was pointed out that, although China’s mechanical product design is still in a growth stage of business-oriented, the user needs is the ultimate goal of product design, and the research on the interact between the product and human is the key part of design shifting the focus from the machine to human. There are many emotional factors in human-machine Interactive relationship that are very difficult to be quantified, however, Kansei Engineering just provides evaluation tools and methods.In this paper, the author combined the semantic differential method commonly used in Kansei Engineering and eye tracking method together to carry on the study. The semantic differential method is a method of psychological measurement, which can locate people’s psychological feelings through a set of semantic opposite adjectives, and the eye tracking method is to use the advanced eye tracking equipment which can record changes in human vision, to find physiological basis affecting the emotional factors. Therefore, This study made the psychological measurements and physiological measurements validate each other, which improves the security of experiment.The research of loader’s human-machine systems was done from three layers: viscera layer, behavior layer and reflection layer.The viscera layer is mainly reflected in the vision. Based on the analysis of loader’s appearance, the author selected and made four views, and then used the eye tracking experiment to analyze Time to First Fixation, Fixation Length, Observation Count and other data, and thus to identify the inadequacies of existing products, while revealing the impact of the different levels of proficiency and geographical differences on visual.On the behavior layer, the author analyzed the activities of people in the cab, and then selected three views to do eye tracking experiment. By analyzing the data, comparing the products with the foreign ones, the author provided valuable basis to improve the existing design. The experiment also showed that:there are significant differences between low-proficiency drivers and high-proficiency drivers, specifically in these ways:lack of global observation, paying less attention to the joystick. Through experiments, it is also found that different regions of China have specific requirements for the loader design, for example, drivers in western region are more sensitive to the visual appearance and internal irritations. This study also uses Delmia software to check the inside of the cab, and find out that side of the console and steering wheel arrangement are more reasonable, but the design of instrument panel and joystick are defective.Reflection layer is about deep impact of the product on the users physical and psychological, more complex issues involved. In order to simplify the problem, the aspect of comfort was chosen to be studied in the paper. After discussing the definition of comfort, the author analyzed the factors affecting driving comfort, and then according to the principle that human pupil will change due to fatigue, did eye tracking experiment to test drivers of two kinds of loaders and to evaluate both labs’comfort. Furthermore, the comfort experimental compare of no-load running and simulating work was given among the chairs of three different loader cabs.Finally, the author summarized the evaluation methods of human-machine system design, initially proposed a more applicable evaluation index for the field of engineering vehicles, and applied this index for the comparison of pre-and post-design loader design, thus to verify the effectiveness of the method, indicating the feasibility of this method.In this paper the applications of Kansei engineering in the design of human-machine systems also were summarized.In terms of angle, this study introduced Kansei Engineering as a new research tool to quantify the human emotional factor and to research. As the Evaluation Indicators in the field of human-machine system, with great variation between individuals, is full of uncertainty, it is difficult to measure by using traditional methods. Therefore this study applies Kansei engineering measurement methods for human-machine system research, expanding the application of Kansei engineering field, and to solve the problem of human-machine system evaluation. In the study of ideas, this paper presented a new model of human-machine systems, starting from the inter-relation of the various elements to study the different levels of engineering vehicles, and established an evaluation index system. In research methods, this paper combined the quantitative and qualitative analysis, the subjective survey and objective tests together, to improve the accuracy of Kansei engineering research.