Sensor-Based Motion Tracking System Evaluation for RULA in Assembly Task

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 22; no. 22; p. 8898
• Main Authors: Senjaya, Wenny Franciska, Yahya, Bernardo Nugroho, Lee, Seok-Lyong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.11.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Biosensors; Ergonomics; Humans; Industry; Kinematics; Monitoring systems; Motion; Motion capture; multimodal sensors; Musculoskeletal diseases; musculoskeletal disorders; Occupational health and safety; Posture; Prevention; Productivity; risk assessment; Sensors; Software; Surgeons; Work-related injuries; Workers; Wrist; Wrist Joint; wrist posture; South Korea; multimodal sensors; risk assessment; wrist posture; musculoskeletal disorders; ergonomics
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s22228898

Industries need a mechanism to monitor the workers’ safety and to prevent Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs). The development of ergonomics assessment tools helps the industry evaluate workplace design and worker posture. Many studies proposed the automated ergonomics assessment method to replace the manual; however, it only focused on calculating body angle and assessing the wrist section manually. This study aims to (a) propose a wrist kinematics measurement based on unobtrusive sensors, (b) detect potential WMSDs related to wrist posture, and (c) compare the wrist posture of subjects while performing assembly tasks to achieve a comprehensive and personalized ergonomic assessment. The wrist posture measurement is combined with the body posture measurement to provide a comprehensive ergonomics assessment based on RULA. Data were collected from subjects who performed the assembly process to evaluate our method. We compared the risk score assessed by the ergonomist and the risk score generated by our method. All body segments achieved more than an 80% similarity score, enhancing the scores for wrist position and wrist twist by 6.8% and 0.3%, respectively. A hypothesis analysis was conducted to evaluate the difference across the subjects. The results indicate that every subject performs tasks differently and has different potential risks regarding wrist posture.