Design and implementation of ergonomic risk assessment feedback system for improved work posture assessment |
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Authors: | Chika Edith Mgbemena John Oyekan Windo Hutabarat Yuchun Xu Ashutosh Tiwari |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Manufacturing, School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing, Cranfield University, Cranfield, United Kingdom;2. Department of Industrial &3. Production Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria;4. Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S1 3JD, United Kingdom.;5. Department of Manufacturing Engineering, School of Engineering &6. Applied Science, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, United Kingdom |
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Abstract: | Ergonomic risk factors which include force, repetition and awkward postures, can result in Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) among workers. Hence, systems that provide real-time feedback to the worker concerning his current ergonomic behaviours are desirable. This paper presents the design and implementation of a human-machine interface posture assessment feedback system whose conceptual model is developed through a model-driven development perspective using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) and interface flow diagrams. The resulting system provides a shop floor with a simple, cost-effective and automatic tool for real-time display of worker's postures. Testing the system on volunteer participants reveals that it is easy to use, achieves real-time posture assessment and provides easy-to-understand feedback to workers. This system may be useful for reducing the rate of occurrence of awkward postures, one of the contributing factors to risk of WMSDs among workers. |
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Keywords: | Awkward postures ergonomics manual handling user interface real-time feedback |
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