A research on the body center of mass of Chinese adults

The body center of mass (COM) plays a prominent role in occupational ergono mics. By analyzing the body dimension parameters, anthropometric inertia pa rameters, i.e. mass, COM location and inertia, can be determined. The param eters can then be applied in diverse areas such as developing an artificial limb for the physically disabled, designing protective appliances and wear for laborers, designing an ejection seat for a fighter jet and performing motion analysis of astronauts. This study measures 15 kinds of basic segment parameters in the human body for Chinese adults. Computer tomography and image processing are adopted in the measurements. Based on the body dimension parameters, a mathematical m odel is also derived/presented to estimate the segment mass and segment COM of Chinese adults. The data accuracy is quite remarkable.