Technical report | A Preliminary Anthropometry Standard for Australian Army Equipment Evaluation

Abstract

Anthropometry is the measurement and comparison of different body shapes and sizes in the general population. This standard presents anthropometric data representative of Australian Defence Force (ADF) Army, specifies the summary values for 84 anthropometric dimensions, provides a set of boundary manikins and provides guidance on how the data presented can be used to perform anthropometric assessments to assess fit, clearance, reach, vision and/or posture of a human operator in a system using a risk based approach. The procedures and data provided within this standard are intended to be used to evaluate soldier systems for use by the Australian Army in terms of user fit, clearance, reach, vision and posture. Soldier systems that this is applicable to include land vehicles and body worn equipment. In addition to providing a method for producing verification evidence for completed system designs, it is intended that the data and procedures given in this standard can be used early in the design process to de-risk the design process as a built system is not a requirement of the processes described in this standard. It must be noted that the data provided in this report is representative of the 2012 ADF Army population. The impact of secular growth changes are not addressed in this standard and, should secular growth be identified as of importance, appropriate modifications should be made to he data contained in this standard. This report supports Defence outcomes by providing an up to date anthropometric dataset that is representative of Australian Army personnel. This will allow assessments to be made of the performance of existing and new soldier systems in terms of fit, clearance, reach, vision and posture.

Executive Summary

Anthropometry is the measurement and comparison of different body shapes and sizes in the general population. Datasets are constructed by measuring body dimensions of a large sample of personnel. In 2012 a survey of male and female Australian Defence Force (ADF) Army personnel was completed. This survey is known as the Australian Warfighter Anthropometry Survey (AWAS). The results of this survey have been used as the basis of this standard and supersede all previous ADF Army anthropometric data.

This standard presents anthropometric data representative of ADF Army personnel. It also presents guidance for the application of this data for assessing the level of physical accommodation provided by the ADF Army equipment and platforms.

This standard is to be used to evaluate soldier systems for use by the ADF Army in terms of user fit, clearance, reach, vision and posture. Applicable systems include platforms that soldiers work in, or are transported in, and body-worn equipment. Given that a built system is not a requirement of the processes described, this standard can also be used early in the design process to de-risk the design process.

Three bodies of data are presented in this standard:

• Univariate statistics; statistical data for 84 human body dimensions.
• Multivariate statistics; seven boundary manikins that represent the extremes of the Army user population.
• Protective Equipment and Clothing Correction Factors (PECCFs); corrections that can be applied to anthropometric data to account for the equipment worn by Army personnel.

Broadly, it is intended that for vehicles and other habitable areas the multivariate boundary manikins can be used to build digital human models and/or select trial participants for vehicle design evaluations. The manikins are naked and the relevant PECCFs should be added according to the equipment ensemble worn by the crew. For dismounted equipment, where an item is designed to fit on or near the skin, it is intended that the univariate statistics be used. The relevant PECCF should be added where an item is required to be worn over the top of existing items.

Guidance on the assessment of user fit, clearance, reach, vision and posture is provided in the report based on identifying key task points and possible risks for each task. The identification of possible risks has been addressed through the use of these five keywords: fit, clearance, reach, vision and posture. This guides the reader into the selection of an appropriate assessment procedure.

Guidelines are provided for the performance of univariate and multivariate assessment methods. These include how to use the data contained within this report, how to generate pass/fail criteria and reporting requirements.

It must be noted that the data provided in this report are representative of the 2012 ADF Army population. The impacts of secular changes are not addressed in this standard. Should secular changes be identified as being of importance, appropriate modifications should be made to the data contained in this standard.

This report supports Defence outcomes by providing an up to-date anthropometric dataset that is representative of Australian Army personnel. This will allow assessments to be made of the performance of existing and new soldier systems in terms of fit, clearance, reach, vision and posture.