Application of virtual reality devices to the quantitative assessment of manual assembly forces in a factory environment

Abstract

The paper describes a system which has been developed to meet an industrial requirement for performing in-situ quantitative measurements of manual forces and postures applied by human assembly line operators. Virtual reality devices are shown to offer a valuable means of meeting the necessary sensory requirements. A set of force transducers incorporated into a pair of Datacq@ gloves together with a force triggered image capturing facility all controlled by a PC compatible, comprise the main hardware elements of the basic system. Comprehensive software provides on-line and playback facilities, allowing non-medical staff to assess the assembly process, including maximum forces applied and a measure of the effort or work done per assembly cycle. Invaluable physiological information is made available for post processing and further medical analysis as well as for database archiving purposes. The instrument is seen to have generic application for ergonomic design of manufacturing processes involving humans, in the quest to avoid repetitive health problems such as strain injury in the upper body. The system can also serve as a tool to monitor the design of new product types as well as setting ergonomically relevant quality targets for sub-contractor supplied components.

A Comparative Approach to Hand Force Estimation using Artificial Neural Networks

“…In applications, such as control of prostheses, 1 , 2 sports medicine 3 – 5 or ergonomic design analysis, 6 the measurement of muscle or limb force is required. The use of force sensors for interface in normal operation is often impractical or inconvenient for direct measurement of forces.…”

GoldFinger: Wireless human-machine interface with dedicated software and biomechanical energy harvesting system

“…In these cases, the glove works as a sensing device more than as an interface. The same function applies in fields involving the recording of hand movements for ergonomic requirements: the kinematics of the hands and upper arms are stored and used to build biomechanical models for the optimization of tasks and environments [25].…”

Hammerstein–Wiener Multimodel Approach for Fast and Efficient Muscle Force Estimation from EMG Signals

“…They are to be helpful in applications where individual muscle kinetics and kinematics are of interest. Hill’s muscle model is considered the most used physical model in musculoskeletal application to study phenomena in which only mechanical behaviour is considered [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. However, this model has not shown its complete suitability in the control of upper limb myoelectric prosthesis.…”