Objectives  The cabin layout of deep sea manned submersibles presents difficult problems, mainly regarding the reasonable arrangement of the equipment and the optimization and adjustment of the working area. Previous cabin designs were based on human muscle fatigue requirements, which easily led to the excessive concentration of equipment beyond the limited space of the phenomenon. This also caused such problems as insufficient space for the installation, use and maintenance of equipment. A two-goal-oriented design method focusing on cabin function and ergonomics may avoid these problems.

  Methods  In this paper, we propose a layout design method based on two constraints, forming a deep sea submersible cabin layout design flow by analyzing the cabin function constraints and ergonomic constraints under two kinds of guidance. We take the 'Jiaolong' submersible cabin layout design as an example in accordance with the proposed process for program design, and use the JACK analysis system and other tools for human-computer comprehensive evaluation.

  Results  This program can provide a comfortable, safe and labor-saving working environment for divers. The proposed layout design methods are reasonable and effective.

  Conclusions  Research into the cabin function and ergonomics-oriented method can solve the problem of the small spatial layout of deep sea submersibles, and provide references for the similar layout design of small space and multi-equipment cabins.