Generative design of 3D printed hands-free door handles for reduction of contagion risk in public buildings

During the emergency caused by COVID 19 evidence has been provided about the risk of easily getting the virus by touching contaminated surfaces and then by touching eyes, mouth, or nose with infected hands. In view of the restarting of daily activities in presence, it is paramount to put in place any strategy that, in addition to social distancing, is capable to positively impact on the safety levels in public buildings by reducing such risk. The main aim of this paper is to conceive a design methodology, based on a digital, flawless, and sustainable procedure, for producing human-building interfacing solutions that allow anybody to interact in a safer and more comfortable way. Such solutions are focused on the adaptation of existing buildings features and are thought to be an alternative to sensor based touchless technology when this is not applicable due to economic or time constraints. The process is based on the integration of digital technologies such as 3D Scanning, Generative Design and Additive Manufacturing and is optimised to be intuitive and to be adaptive, hence, to be replicable on different kinds of surfaces. The design concept is finalised to generate automatically different products that meet geometry fitting requirements and therefore adapt to the specific geometries of existing handles. A specific case on Hands Free Door Handles is presented and the results of manufacturing and preliminary validation process are provided and discussed.

Combining World Class Manufacturing system and Industry 4.0 technologies to design ergonomic manufacturing equipment

In the era of the fourth industrial revolution, human has still a central role. Manufacturing industries have to deal with human sustainability in order to guarantee workers’ health and well-being. Several studies have proved the importance of ergonomics in workplace design and the benefits related to the adoption of the human-centered approach. The enabling technologies of Industry 4.0 are changing the role of the operator and can support him from a physical and cognitive point of view. On the other hand, companies are increasingly implementing lean philosophies, such as World Class Manufacturing, to maintain their competitiveness by reducing wastes and costs. However, the need arises for a comprehensive methodology to support the design of manufacturing equipment considering human factors by integrating Industry 4.0 technologies and World Class Manufacturing elements. It aims at improving both ergonomic and efficiency aspects of the workstation. The proposed methodology allows identifying and in-depth analyzing the problem, thus finding and implementing a solution that complies with all the requirements and constraints defined. Each step of the methodology can be strengthened by Industry 4.0 technologies. The methodology has been experimented in a real case study with a global company of agriculture and industrial vehicles, leading to the design and implementation of a new equipment. Relevant benefits in terms of ergonomics, efficiency, and process standardization have been achieved.