1,720,984 research outputs found
A non-intrusive system for seated posture identification
No full textIn this contribution a system for seated posture identification is presented. The assessment tools is based on an office-chair equipped with sensors. In more details, a set of textile pressure sensors has been placed on a chair both on the chair backrest and on the seat. The position of the sensors has been selected for maximizing the possibility of sensing minimum variations of the subject's posture. To validate the system, an extensive subjective experiment has been performed in which the subject undergoes an increasing stress-level test. The collected results show that this instrument is effective in assessing the attention/fatigue of a subject in seating condition by the analysis of body posture
A focus on quantitative methods to assess human factors in collaborative robotics
No full textThe advent of Industry 4.0 has transformed manufacturing by incorporating industrial robots to boost productivity and quality while cutting costs. Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) is central to this shift, emphasizing seamless cooperation between humans and robots in shared workspaces. Evaluating the impact of such collaboration on human operators is crucial for efficiency, safety, and well-being. This systematic review explores methodologies for assessing human factors in HRC environments, spanning psychological, cognitive, and physical realms. Various evaluation methods have been identified, from subjective questionnaires to objective measurements. While subjective methods are the standard (especially questionnaires), there is a growing trend towards integrating physiological and physical measurements. The blend of subjective and objective methods offers a holistic understanding of human-robot interaction. This review adopts a more technical-oriented approach in the assessment of human factors in HRC. As a result, it consolidates existing methodologies and suggests avenues for further research, highlighting the significance of this assessment for enhancing productivity, safety, and well-being in industrial settings
Modalities of sequential human robot collaboration trigger different modifications of trunk oscillations
No full textIntroduction: Human robot collaboration is quickly gaining importance in the robotics and ergonomics fields due to its ability to reduce biomechanical risk on the human operator while increasing task efficiency. The performance of the collaboration is typically managed by the introduction of complex algorithms in the robot control schemes to ensure optimality of its behavior; however, a set of tools for characterizing the response of the human operator to the movement of the robot has yet to be developed. Methods: Trunk acceleration was measured and used to define descriptive metrics during various human robot collaboration strategies. Recurrence quantification analysis was used to build a compact description of trunk oscillations. Results and discussion: The results show that a thorough description can be easily developed using such methods; moreover, the obtained values highlight that, when designing strategies for human robot collaboration, ensuring that the subject maintains control of the rhythm of the task allows to maximize comfort in task execution, without affecting efficiency
A new microcontroller-based system to optimize the digital conversion of signals originating from load cells built-in into pedals
No full textDuring cycling, the measurement of forces exerted on the pedal is used to monitor the level of training and to maximize the efficiency of pedaling. In rehabilitation, the force measurement can be used to monitor the functional recovery of a patient during a therapy. In these situations, it is useful to quantify with high resolution these variables. In this work a solution to remove the DC offset at the input of an AD converter for force measurement systems, based on strain gauges load cells, is presented. This circuit has been integrated into a device used in sports and in rehabilitation contexts, that relies on a couple of cycling instrumented pedals. The system designed in this work aims at obtaining these results in a simple way and with its complete integration into the control circuit of the instrumented pedals
A Physiology-based Driver Readiness Estimation Model for Tuning ISO 26262 Controllability
No full textWhen a hazardous situation approaches, the semi-autonomous vehicle opts for the driver as a fallback solution, unaware of the driver's readiness. During such a situation, autonomy misuse can occur when a driver becomes over-reliant on autonomous driving. For handling the hazardous event, controllability is paramount. We postulate that semi-autonomous vehicles decline their consideration in understanding the drivers' focus on the vehicle and the road. To examine the drivers' focus on the vehicle and the road we uphold that the vehicle must initiate exploring the drivers' situation awareness for the readiness, which could feasibly tune the ISO 26262 controllability. In this paper, we propose a physiology-based driver situation awareness for the readiness model through the driver's stress and drowsiness estimation. In addition, we boost the situation awareness for the readiness of the driver by enabling frequent interaction between the driver and the vehicle managing system
A Novel Physiological-Based System to Assess Drivers’ Stress during Earth Moving Simulated Activities
No full textThe Impact of Human-Robot Collaboration Levels on Postural Stability During Working Tasks Performed While Standing: Experimental Study
No full textBackground: The integration of collaborative robots (cobots) in industrial settings has the potential to enhance worker safety and efficiency by improving postural control and reducing biomechanical risk. Understanding the specific impacts of varying levels of human-robot collaboration on these factors is crucial for optimizing cobot use. Objective: This study aims to investigate the biomechanical effects of different levels of human-robot collaboration on postural stability and control during simulated working tasks. Methods: A total of 14 participants performed simulated cashier working activities under 4 different collaboration modalities, with increasing levels of cobot assistance: full (Fu), half robot touch (HRT), half robot (HRb), and full robot (FRb). Center of pressure trajectories were extracted from 2 force plates’ data to calculate 4 posturography parameters—mean distance (MDIST), mean velocity (MVELO), 95% confidence ellipse area (AREA-CE), and sway area (AREA-SW)—which were analyzed to assess the impact of cobot intervention on postural control. Results: Nonparametric tests showed significance in the effect of the collaboration modalities on the 4 analyzed parameters. Post hoc tests revealed that FRb modality led to the greatest enhancement in postural stability, with a reduction in MDIST (4.2, SD 1.3 cm in Fu vs 1.6, SD 0.5 cm in FRb) and MVELO (16.3, SD 5.2 cm/s in Fu vs 7.9, SD 1.1 cm/s in FRb). AREA-CE and AREA-SW also decreased significantly with higher levels of cobot assistance (AREA-CE: 134, SD 91 cm2 in Fu vs 22, SD 12 cm2 in FRb; AREA-SW: 16.2, SD 8.4 cm2/s in Fu vs 4.0, SD 1.6 cm2/s in FRb). Complete assistance of the cobot significantly reduced interindividual variability of all center of pressure parameters. In FRb modality, as compared with all other conditions, removing the weight of the object during loading or unloading phases caused a significant decrease in all parameter values. Conclusions: Increased cobot assistance significantly enhances postural stability and reduces biomechanical load on workers during simulated tasks. Full assistance from cobots, in particular, minimizes postural displacements, indicating more consistent postural control improvements across individuals. However, high levels of cobot intervention also reduced the natural variation in how people balanced themselves. This could potentially lead to discomfort in the long run. Midlevel cobot assistance modalities can thus be considered as a good compromise in reducing biomechanical risks associated with postural stability at the same time granting a satisfactory level of user control
Review of present method of glucose from human blood and body fluids assessment
No full textthe work has been aimed to create an overview of available and used methods and ways to determine the concentration of glucose in body fluids, especially from a technical point of view. It also provides an overview of the clinical features of these methods. The survey found that today's market offers a large number of options and approaches to the issue. There are accurate reference laboratory methods, self-monitoring methods for measuring glucose levels using glucometers, or continuous methods for daily monitoring of blood glucose trends and for insulin pump control. However, it must not be forgotten that the development of full closure of feedback is still not complete today. Individual methods cannot always be compared with each other, precisely because of the focus and the use of these methods. Choosing the right method of blood glucose levels in the body measuring can help patients to manage their diabetes mellitus. The methods listed in the overview are divided in terms of measurement continuity and further according to the invasiveness of the method. Finally, the issues of accuracy in the detection of glycaemia variability and the possibility of further development of these methods are discussed, as it is clear from the survey that the development is focused mainly on continuous methods improving that get to the forefront and also on developing a biosensor that is purely non-invasive and continuous
Analysis of muscular activity of a cashier during different modalities of human robot collaboration
No full textThe effects of siding a collaborative robot (cobot) to a human operator on muscle activity during a scenario simulating a working task (i.e., a supermarket cashier moving cyclically packages) were investigated in this study, by considering different modalities of human-robot collaboration (HRC). Wearable sensors were used to collect kinematic and EMG data, and four different HRC interaction modalities were tested to determine their impact on the biomechanical risk associated with the examined working task. The range, amplitude, and smoothness values of accelerometer data coming from a sensor placed on the trunk, as well as coactivation indexes extracted from EMG data of different relevant muscles were calculated. Without cobot assistance, although a higher smoothness was found in the trunk movement, a high level of prolonged muscular activity was encountered usually associated to a potential increase in the biomechanical risk. In contrast, full assistance from the cobot resulted in the operator developing an intermittent motor control strategy, which reduces the muscular effort but losing smoothness in trunk movements. During two simulated tasks with a medium level of assistance, if the cobot imposed the cadence to complete the task, the required muscular effort remained constantly high, while if the operator was allowed to control the cadence, high smoothness combined with reduced muscular activity resulted. In conclusion, the use of cobots in repetitive tasks can influence the muscle strategy adopted by the operator during HRC. According to the analysis, the most effective approach is to reduce the workload of the operators while allowing them to maintain control over the speed at which tasks are completed
A wireless integrated system to evaluate efficiency indexes in real time during cycling
No full textIn cycling, instrumented devices providing a quantitative assessment of the task execution could facilitate the functional evaluation and the training organization generally carried on by sport trainers. To this purpose, this work deals with the design and the implementation of a system able to evaluate the pedaling efficiency. The system is based on an Instrumented Pedal (IPed) that measures the components of the force (i.e. the perpendicular to the load plane and the tangential to the motion direction) exerted during pedaling and the angle between the pedal and the crank. The force signals are transmitted to a PDA by using a wireless connection and are processed in real time to obtain a performance index. This index is based on the ratio between the amplitude of the force component tangent to the crank (i.e. the component useful to the task) and the amplitude of the overall force vector applied to the pedal. The software packet calculates the performance index and displays it by using both numerical and graphical representations. The performance index can be used by the athletes to monitor the execution of the motor task in order to develop a more efficient pedaling strategy, and also by the trainers to control the training program and the ongoing performance.In cycling, instrumented devices providing a quantitative assessment of the task execution could facilitate the functional evaluation and the training organization generally carried on by sport trainers. To this purpose, this work deals with the design and the implementation of a system able to evaluate the pedaling efficiency. The system is based on an Instrumented Pedal (IPed) that measures the components of the force (i.e. the perpendicular to the load plane and the tangential to the motion direction) exerted during pedaling and the angle between the pedal and the crank. The force signals are transmitted to a PDA by using a wireless connection and are processed in real time to obtain a performance index. This index is based on the ratio between the amplitude of the force component tangent to the crank (i.e. the component useful to the task) and the amplitude of the overall force vector applied to the pedal. The software packet calculates the performance index and displays it by using both numerical and graphical representations. The performance index can be used by the athletes to monitor the execution of the motor task in order to develop a more efficient pedaling strategy, and also by the trainers to control the training program and the ongoing performance
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