Virtual reality environment to study the ergonomic features of firefighters' activity

Abstract

This work considers the problem of studying the strategy of equipment location on the firefighting vehicle. A unified firefighter's vehicle Euro Truck is being designed. The problem of location the emergency equipment on the vehicle is very important from the point of view of firefighters ergonomic. It is consider two ergonomic criterion functions: how long is the distance of horizontal and vertical displacement of equipment during its unloading. The third ergonomic criterion is optimization of firefighters work time. These criteria lead to a reduction in the physical load of firefighters' bodies. Computer simulation, including virtual reality, allows for a very detailed study of the work of firefighters during the removal of equipment from the vehicle. A simulation environment with virtual reality was built and tested in order to measure ergonomic criteria during firefighters' work in a rescue operation for various action scenarios.