Optimizing ergonomic movement of a virtual dummy

A multi-agent method for moving a virtual dummy in a virtual environment to simulate human actions in a defined environment for validating and optimizing accessibility to certain parts of a machine, the dummy being defined by an overall position and by a plurality of degrees of freedom for joints, the method comprising:

• a step of moving the dummy towards a target by means of an attraction agent acting on the plurality of degrees of freedom of the joints of the dummy;
• and
• a step of avoiding collisions between the dummy and the environment by means of an avoider agent acting on the overall position of the dummy as a function of parameters defining said environment;
• a step of automatically correcting the posture of the dummy during its movement towards the target by means of an ergonomy agent acting on the plurality of degrees of freedom for the joints of the dummy, wherein said correcting comprises the following steps:
• determining a posture score vector depending on the degrees of freedom of the joints of the dummy;
• normalizing said posture score vector in order to form a normalized posture score vector;
• weighting said normalized posture score vector in order to form a weighted posture score vector;
• and
• inverting the sign of said weighted posture score vector so as to determine the contribution of the ergonomy agent.