Application of ergonomic index indices in the evaluation of the cabin of a forest tractor "Feller-Buncher"

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the tractor cab ergonomically forest harvesting "Feller-Buncher", regarding the scaling of internal design of the booths, placement of controls and instruments, access to the job, sitting, in order to gather information for the redesign of the cabin. Anthropometric evaluation of the operators was conducted by two sets of measures, one standing and one seated. For ergonomic assessment and measurement of the positioning of the controls and field of view were determined from the same distance from the seating reference point (ARP) in three dimensions (x, y and z). According to the results we can conclude that the measurements of the Brazilian operators demonstrate differences, significantly lower compared with the operators of most developed countries where these machines are manufactured. And there is also need for ergonomic improvements in the following ergonomic aspects: access to the cabin, seat, controls and control panel.