An interactive and iterative control panel layout method based on the
constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) technique was developed to gener
ate an ergonomically sound panel design. This control panel layout met
hod attempts to incorporate a variety of relevant ergonomic principles
and design constraints, and generate an optimal or, at least, a 'sati
sfactory' solution through an efficient search algorithm. The problem
of seeking an ergonomically sound panel design should be viewed as a m
ulti-criteria problem, and most of the design objectives should be und
erstood as constraints. Hence, a CSP technique was employed in this st
udy for dealing with the multi-constraints layout problem. The efficie
nt search algorithm using 'preprocess' and 'look-ahead' procedures was
developed to handle the vast amount of computational effort. In order
to apply the CSP technique to the panel layout procedure, the ergonom
ic principles such as spatial compatibility, frequency-of-use, importa
nce, functional grouping, and sequence-of-use were formalized as CSP t
erms. The effectiveness of the proposed panel layout method was evalua
ted by example problems, and the results clearly showed that the gener
ated layouts properly considered various ergonomic design principles.