Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement — Human Factors & Anthropometric Library

Client: Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), formerly Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO)
Project: SEA 3036-R Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R)
Period: 2015
Focus: Human factors, anthropometry, ergonomics and capability design

IGOR was engaged by the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group (CASG), formerly Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), in support of the SEA 3036-R Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement (PPB-R) project. The work addressed a fundamental human factors challenge in the design of a maritime capability intended for operation by personnel drawn from a diverse range of Pacific Island populations.

Australia had provided Pacific Island countries with patrol boats as part of a long-standing regional capability and security partnership. The replacement program created an opportunity to improve the design of the vessels by incorporating a substantially better understanding of the anthropometric and ergonomic characteristics of the people who would actually operate them.

The challenge was that the patrol boats were intended for use across multiple Pacific Island countries whose populations could exhibit very substantial variation in body dimensions. Available anthropometric information was also incomplete: comprehensive, contemporary datasets did not exist for all of the relevant populations. Designing a single class of vessel around a conventional or assumed “average” user therefore risked creating equipment that was poorly suited to significant parts of the intended user population.

IGOR developed a scalable anthropometric library for Pacific Island populations, combining available data with statistical and mathematical extrapolation where contemporary population data were unavailable. The work included the use of historical anthropometric information and mathematical modelling to estimate contemporary characteristics, including aspects of body and head dimensions relevant to equipment and workspace design.

The purpose was not simply to document differences between populations. The anthropometric analysis was translated into practical human factors and ergonomic implications for the patrol boat design. The resulting evidence could inform the dimensions, reach requirements, controls, workspaces, seating and accommodation arrangements that personnel would need to use safely and effectively.

This was particularly important because a vessel that works adequately for a nominal or average user can become significantly less effective when the range of actual users is much wider. For some users, controls or equipment could be difficult to reach; for others, spaces designed around conventional dimensions could be physically inaccessible or unusable. Accommodation was similarly affected: berth dimensions and layouts that appear adequate against conventional assumptions may not provide sufficient space for larger members of the intended workforce, with direct consequences for comfort, rest and ultimately human performance.

The project therefore treated human variability as a design parameter rather than an exception. Instead of designing the capability around an assumed average person and addressing problems later, IGOR provided evidence about the range of people who would use the system and enabled that variability to be incorporated into the design process.

The work also demonstrated that human factors cannot be separated from the wider capability. The effectiveness of a patrol vessel depends not only on the vessel’s technical performance, but on whether its people can physically access, operate, maintain and live within the system. Ergonomic constraints can affect everything from the operation of controls and equipment to the ability of personnel to rest effectively during extended operations.

IGOR’s contribution brought together anthropometry, mathematical analysis and human factors expertise to address a practical capability-design problem where the human population could not be treated as homogeneous. The resulting anthropometric resource provided a reusable evidence base for considering the human dimensions of Pacific maritime capability and for designing equipment around the people who would actually use it.

The project demonstrated IGOR’s ability to translate human variability into engineering and capability-design requirements — ensuring that systems are designed for the real range of people who will use them, rather than for an assumed average user.