Review of anthropometric considerations for tractor seat design

Tractor driving imposes a lot of physical and mental stress upon the operator. If the operator's seat is not comfortable, his work performance may be poor and there is also a possibility of accidents. The optimal design of tractor seat may be achieved by integrating anthropometric data with other technical features of the design. This paper reviews the existing information on the tractor seat design that considers anthropometry and biomechanical factors and gives an approach for seat design based on anthropometric data. The anthropometric dimensions, i.e. popliteal height sitting (5th percentile), hip breadth sitting (95th percentile), buttock popliteal length (5th percentile), interscye breadth (5th and 95th percentile) and sitting acromion height (5th percentile) of agricultural workers need to be taken into consideration for design of seat height, seat pan width, seat pan length, seat backrest width and seat backrest height, respectively, of a tractor. The seat dimensions recommended for tractor operator's comfort based on anthropometric data of 5434 Indian male agricultural workers were as follows: seat height of 380 mm, seat pan width of 420–450 mm, seat backrest width of 380–400 mm (bottom) and 270–290 mm (top), seat pan length of 370±10 mm, seat pan tilt of 5–7° backward and seat backrest height of 350 mm.

Relevance to industry

The approach presented in this paper for tractor seat design based on anthropometric considerations will help the tractor seat designers to develop and introduce seats suiting to the requirements of the user population. This will not only enhance the comfort of the tractor operators but may also help to reduce the occupational health problems of tractor operators.     

基于动态模糊推理的舒适温度在线预测

基于热感觉预测的室内热环境自动控制方法为解决基于传统温度设定值控制不满足用户舒适度问题提供新的途径。但建模过程中用户热感觉信息难以获取,因此开发了便捷的移动端智能交互系统以实时采集现场数据,建立用户学习样本;并针对热舒适的动态变化性特征,设计动态进化神经模糊推理系统(DENFIS)以建立用户热舒适在线预测模型。通过实时学习样本数据驱动,系统的模糊规则与模型输出函数系数可动态自校正,推理预测出用户偏好温度。实验结果表明所设计的DENFIS算法预测用户的舒适温度范围准确率高达90.5%,误差极小。证明了该算法所建立的在线预测模型用于智能空调温度控制,可解决现有的温度设定方式带来的温度设定值不合理的问题,在实际应用中具有可行性。     

基于预测机制的自适应负载均衡算法

工作负载特征对Web服务器集群中负载均衡调度算法的性能有重要影响。针对负载特征在调度算法所起作用的分析和讨论,提出基于预测机制的自适应负载均衡算法（RR_MMMCS-A-P）。通过监测工作负载,预测后续请求到达率和请求大小,快速调整相应参数,实现集群中各服务器之间的负载均衡。实验表明,无论是对计算密集型任务还是数据密集型任务,RR_MMMCS-A-P同基于CPU和CPU-MEM的调度算法相比在缩短平均响应时间方面具有较好的性能。     

Anthropometric criteria for the design of tractor cabs and protection frames

Improved human?–?tractor interface designs, such as well-accommodated operator enclosures (i.e. cabs and protection frames) can enhance operator productivity, comfort and safety. This study investigated farm-worker anthropometry and determined the critical anthropometric measures and 3-D feature envelopes of body landmarks for the design of tractor operator enclosures. One hundred agriculture workers participated in the study. Their body size and shape information was registered, using a 3-D full-body laser scanner. Knee height (sitting) and another eight parameters were found to affect the cab-enclosure accommodation rating and multiple anthropometric dimensions interactively affected the steering wheel and gear-handle impediment. A principal component analysis has identified 15 representative human body models for digitally assessing tractor-cab accommodation. A set of centroid coordinates of 34 body landmarks and the 95% confidence semi-axis-length for each landmark location were developed to guide tractor designers in their placement of tractor control components in order to best accommodate the user population. Finally, the vertical clearance (90?cm) for agriculture tractor enclosure in the current SAE International J2194 standard appeared to be too short as compared to the 99th percentile sitting height of male farm workers in this study (100.6?cm) and in the 1994 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III database (99.9?cm) and of the male civilian population in the 2002 Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometric Resource database (100.4?cm).     

On-line driver workload estimation. Effects of road situation and age on secondary task measures

In order to develop a driver-car interface that adapts the presentation of messages generated by in-vehicle information systems to driver workload, two experiments investigated potential determinants of driver visual and mental workload as indicated by performance on two secondary tasks. Experiment 1 suggested that road situation is a major determinant of visual and mental workload of the driver and that the processing resources of older drivers are somewhat more limited than those of younger and middle-aged drivers. Familiarity with the area of driving (when guided) and time of day (associated with traffic density) showed no secondary task effects. Experiment 2 showed that the categorization of road situations, proposed in Experiment 1, could underlie adaptation of visually loading messages to the workload incurred by driving. This was not found with respect to mentally loading messages.     

Biomechanical model to predict loads on lumbar vertebra of a tractor operator

A biomechanical model is important for prediction of loads likely to arise in specific body parts under various conditions. The biomechanical model was developed to predict compressive and shear loads at L4/L5 (lumbar vertebra) of a tractor operator seating on seats with selected seat pan and backrest cushion materials. A computer program was written to solve the model for various inputs viz. stature and weight of the tractor operators, choice of operating conditions, and reaction forces from seat pan and backrest cushions. It was observed that maximum compressive and shear forces ranged 943–1367 N and 422–991 N, respectively at L4/L5 of tractor operators steering the tractor with leg and hand control actions and occasionally viewing the implement at back. The compressive forces were maximum (1202–1367 N) with coir based composite seat backrest cushion materials (thickness of 80 mm, density of 47.19 kg/m³) and were minimum (943–1108 N) with high density polyurethane foam (thickness of 44 mm, density of 19.09 kg/m³) for the seats.Relevance to industryThe biomechanical model of a tractor operator is important for theoretical understanding the problem of sitting and is also valuable in prediction of compressive and shear loads at L4/L5 of operator under various operating conditions. It will help in design of tractor seat for operator's comfort.     

Evaluating the effects of bilingual traffic signs on driver performance and safety

Variable message signs (VMS) can provide immediate and relevant information to road users and bilingual VMS can provide great flexibility in countries where a significant proportion of the population speak an alternative language to the majority. The study reported here evaluates the effect of various bilingual VMS configurations on driver behaviour and safety. The aim of the study was to determine whether or not the visual distraction associated with bilingual VMS signs of different configurations (length, complexity) impacted on driving performance. A driving simulator was used to allow full control over the scenarios, road environment and sign configuration and both longitudinal and lateral driver performance was assessed. Drivers were able to read one- and two-line monolingual signs and two-line bilingual signs without disruption to their driving behaviour. However, drivers significantly reduced their speed in order to read four-line monolingual and four-line bilingual signs, accompanied by an increase in headway to the vehicle in front. This implies that drivers are possibly reading the irrelevant text on the bilingual sign and various methods for reducing this effect are discussed.     

Effect of cognitive load on speech prosody in aviation: Evidence from military simulator flights

Mental overload directly affects safety in aviation and needs to be alleviated. Speech recordings are obtained non-invasively and as such are feasible for monitoring cognitive load. We recorded speech of 13 military pilots while they were performing a simulator task. Three types of cognitive load (load on situation awareness, information processing and decision making) were rated by a flight instructor separately for each flight phase and participant. As a function of increased cognitive load, the mean utterance-level fundamental frequency (F0) increased, on average, by 7 Hz and the mean vocal intensity increased by 1 dB. In the most intensive simulator flight phases, mean F0 increased by 12 Hz and mean intensity, by 1.5 dB. At the same time, the mean F0 range decreased by 5 Hz, on average. Our results showed that prosodic features of speech can be used to monitor speaker state and support pilot training in a simulator environment.     

一种改进的基于动态反馈的负载均衡算法

负载均衡是集群系统研究的一个重要问题,负载均衡算法是集群任务分配的核心,介绍了LVS中的负载均衡算法,讨论了常用算法的不足,在分析这些算法各自优缺点的基础上,提出了一种改进的基于反馈的负载均衡算法,算法引入一个负载容余参数以更准确地描述集群节点的负载状况,在考虑服务节点真实负载,处理能力的基础上,尽量简化负载均衡器的任务分配算法.测试结果显示该算法优于静态算法.     

The effect of posture and vibration magnitude on the vertical vibration transmissibility of tractor suspension system

The efficiency of suspension seat can be influenced by several factors such as the input vibration, the dynamic characteristics of the seat and the dynamic characteristics of the human body. The objective of this paper is to study the effect of sitting postures and vibration magnitude on the vibration transmissibility of a suspension system of an agricultural tractor seat. Eleven (11) healthy male subjects participated in the study. All subjects were asked to sit on the suspension system. Four (4) different sitting postures were investigated – i) “relax”, ii) “slouch”, iii) “tense”, and iv) “with backrest support”. All subjects were exposed to random vertical vibration in the range of 1–20 Hz, at three vibration magnitudes - 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 m/s² r.m.s for 60 s. The results showed that there were three pronounced peaks in the seat transmissibility, with the primary resonance was found at 1.75–2.5 Hz for every sitting postures. The “backrest” condition had the highest transmissibility resonance (1.46), while the “slouch” posture had the highest Seat Effective Amplitude Transmissibility (SEAT) values (64.7%). Changes in vibration magnitude for “relax” posture from 0.5 to 2.0 m/s² r.m.s resulted in greater reduction in the primary resonance frequency of seat transmissibility. The SEAT values decreased with increased vibration magnitude. It can be suggested that variations in posture and vibration magnitude affected the vibration transmission through the suspension system, indicating the non-linear effect on the interaction between the human body and the suspension system.Relevance to industry: Investigating the posture adopted during agricultural activities, and the effects of various magnitudes of vibration on the suspension system's performance are beneficial to the industry. The findings regarding their influence on the human body may be used to optimize the suspension system's performance.     

Fault tolerant algorithm based on dynamic and active load balancing for redundant services

A new Some-Read-Any-Write (SRAW) fault tolerant algorithm for redundant services is presented that allows a system to adjust failures dynamically in order to keep the availability and improve the performance.SRAW is based upon dynamic and active load balancing. By introducing dynamic and active load balancings cheme into redundant services, not only the processing speed of requests can be greatly improved, but also the load balancing can be simply and efficiently achieved. Integrated with consistency protocol in this paper, SRAW can also be applied to state services. The performance of SRAW algorithm is also analyzed, and comparisons with other fault tolerant algorithms, especially with RAWA, indicate that SRAW efficiently improves the performance of redundant services with guaranteeing system availability.     

A method for fatigue detection based on Driver's steering wheel grip

We propose a simple method to measure a driver's fatigue state by detecting the driver's grip force on the steering wheel while driving. We tested the grip force of 36 drivers on the steering wheel in conscious states (Alert) and fatigue states under actual road driving conditions. Using the Stanford sleepiness scale (SSS), we divided drivers into Alert Group A, fatigue Group A, and fatigue Group B. During 20-min real-road driving trials, we measured the steering wheel grip force, electroencephalogram index (R = (α + θ)/β), and blink frequency of each driver synchronously. We found that ΔF, the difference between the maximum/minimum grip force and the standard deviation of the grip force, σF, for each driver, strongly correlated with the driver's fatigue state. In the fatigue state, both ΔF and σF increased significantly. We examined these force indices using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and validated them against the R-value, blink frequency, and the driver's self-reported fatigue state. Using the grip force in fatigue detection, our method can achieve an overall recognition rate of 86.6% and an individual recognition rate of 88.3%. These results indicate that this method can effectively detect a driver's fatigue state during actual road driving. This new method has several advantages, such as a high signal-to-noise ratio, simple data collection, and no influence on daily driving. Thus, our proposed method may provide a theoretical foundation for the development of fatigue-detecting steering wheels     

基于动态双组粒子群的短期负荷预测

为提高电网短期负荷预测的精度,提出一种有效的优化支持向量机参数的算法。该算法首先将初始粒子群适应度排序,然后根据适应度的大小将初始粒子群划分为两组,并同时运用不同的权重进行全局搜索和局部搜索。前期,全局搜索的粒子群数量远多于局部搜索,且使用全局搜索能力强的较大的惯性权重;局部搜索的粒子群使用较小的惯性权重。随着迭代次数的增加,全局搜索的粒子群数量不断减少,局部搜索不断增多,两组粒子数量动态变化。并且引入平均粒距和适应度方差解决粒子群容易陷入局部最优这一问题,最后用改进的动态双组粒子群算法优化最小二乘支持向量机的参数用于短期负荷预测,实验结果表明该方法预测精度更高,可行且有效。     

基于负载预测的虚拟机动态调度算法研究与实现

在云计算系统中为了实现负载均衡和资源的高效利用,需要在虚拟机粒度上对云计算系统进行调度,通过热迁移技术将虚拟机从高负载物理节点迁移到低负载物理节点。把负载预测技术和虚拟机动态调度技术相结合,提出了LFS算法,通过虚拟机历史负载数据对虚拟机未来的负载变化情况进行预测,然后根据预测结果对虚拟机进行调度,能够有效地避免云计算系统中高负载物理节点出现,实现负载均衡,提高资源使用率。     

一种高效动态LEO卫星网络流量调节路由算法

针对考虑负载均衡的LEO卫星网络路由算法存在控制网络开销偏大、路由更新不及时以及流量调节机制分配不均等问题,提出了一种基于负载均衡的动态LEO卫星网络路由算法DRLB。根据卫星节点路径记录信息以及后向Agent读取策略设计新的路由机制,获得动态卫星拓扑结构;分析前向Agent的分组格式并删除冗余字段,达到减小网络开销目的;根据数据发送时间间隔构造前向Agent选址策略,提高路由更新效率,通过考虑卫星所处纬度流量分配不均问题,改进流量调节因子,获得更好的负载均衡效果。仿真结果表明,与SDRZ-MA算法相比,DRLB算法在减缓星地之间的控制开销、平均端到端时延等方面具有较好的优势。     

An adaption scheduling based on dynamic weighted random forests for load demand forecasting

The Journal of Supercomputing - With the development of cloud computing, energy consumption has become a major and costly problem in data centers. To improve the energy efficiency of data centers,...     

基于飞行工作模态分析的飞行器动载荷识别研究

基于飞行遥测振动数据,本文提出了基于工作模态分析的飞行器动载荷识别方法.首先,详细介绍了ERA环境激励模态辨识方法的理论.其次,给出了飞行器结构动力学建模方法.再次,提出了基于工作模态辨识的飞行器动载荷辨识计算工作流程,详细分析了其中的注意点.最后,通过算例验证了方法的可行性,其中基于飞行器飞行振动遥测数据,采用环境激励模态辨识方法辨识其各时刻的模态,包括模态频率和模态振型,再利用振动响应的模态叠加原理和模态正交理论,获取各时刻飞行器低阶模态的响应,再结合模态剪力和模态弯矩进行动载荷识别.     

基于数据库集群的动态负载均衡研究与实现

针对数据库集群负载问题,提出了一种动态负载均衡方法,并进一步设计、实现了包括CPU使用率、磁盘存储量、磁盘响应效率、网络延时、内存使用率等在内的多指标的节点负载测量和实时监控。该算法根据各节点的负载反馈信息进行任务分配,实现了负载均衡。性能分析和实验表明,该算法具有较高的负载均衡度和较低的系统开销。     

Selection and design of drive modules for robot joint based on dynamic load characteristics

This paper presents the selection and design process of joint motors and gears for robot systems. The velocity, acceleration, and torque profiles of each joint that satisfy a given task are calculated using dynamic and kinematic analysis, and the required motor torque to drive the joint is calculated with respect to the combination of module inertia and gear ratios. Considering energy efficiency, motor parameters, and switching characteristics of the inverter, the correlation between the module inertia and gear ratio for driving joints is investigated, and the final combination is determined by referring to commercial gear data sheets. From the determined motor inertia, various motor designs are possible. To compare the performance and determine the optimal model, performance metrics of drive motors, torque matching, coil temperature, and the motor constant, are proposed and the significance of these figures are discussed.

     

A driver fatigue recognition model based on information fusion and dynamic Bayesian network

We propose a driver fatigue recognition model based on the dynamic Bayesian network, information fusion and multiple contextual and physiological features. We include features such as the contact physiological features (e.g., ECG and EEG), and apply the first-order Hidden Markov Model to compute the dynamics of the Bayesian network at different time slices. The experimental validation shows the effectiveness of the proposed system; also it indicates that the contact physiological features (especially ECG and EEG) are significant factors for inferring the fatigue state of a driver.