Motor company Ford is using body tracking technology on the production line at its engine assembly plant in Valenica, Spain. It is the same technology professional sports people use to perfect their techniques and replicate moves for video games.
Employees at Ford’s plant in Valencia are wearing special suits equipped with tracking sensors to promote good posture.
Player motion technology usually records how athletes sprint or turn, enabling sport coaches or game developers to unlock the potential of sport stars in the real world or on screen. Ford is using it to design less physically stressful workstations for enhanced manufacturing quality.
The pilot system, created by Ford and the Instituto Biomecánica de Valencia, has involved 70 employees in 21 work areas. The company is considering further rollout to its other European manufacturing facilities.
Javier Gisbert, production area manager at the Valencia plant, said: “It’s been proven on the sports field that with motion tracking technology, tiny adjustments to the way you move can have a huge benefit. For our employees, changes made to work areas using similar technology can ultimately ensure that, even on a long day, they are able to work comfortably.” Ford said engineers took inspiration from a suit they saw at a trade dair, which demonstrated how robots could replicate human movement and then applied it to their workplace.
The skin-tight suit consists of 15 tiny movement tracking light sensors connected to a wireless detection unit. The system tracks how the person moves at work, highlighting head, neck, shoulder and limb movements. Movement is recorded by four specialised motion-tracking cameras – similar to those usually paired with computer game consoles – placed near the worker and captured as a 3D skeletal character animation of the user.
Ergonomists use the data to help employees align their posture correctly. Measurements captured by the system, such as an employee’s height or arm length, are used to design workstations, so they better fit employees.
