Poplar forests are cultivated worldwide on extended areas, contributing to the provision of wood for industries. Their management is intensive, especially in planting operations which are done, in many parts of the world, by the use of manual labor....
Forest operations are well known in exposing their workers to many risk factors, and they often require ergonomic interventions for improvement. In this regard, evaluation of biomechanical exposure has gained a lot of interest due to the concerning s...
The present study involved performing an experiment to clarify whether vibration measurement values on the tool handle, in accordance with ISO 5349-1, can assess risk from workplace environments. The study investigated the relationship between the vi...
Whole-body vibration is a significant health risk for between 4% and 7% of the work force in North America. In addition, many factors compound the health risks of heavy machinery operators. For example, twisted trunk and neck postures stiffen the spi...
15 November 2026
Ergonomically unfavorable postures remain a major risk factor for work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) among ultrasound operators. Dermatologic and facial ultrasound presents specific ergonomic challenges because it requires delicate trans...
Commercial pressure monitoring systems have been developed to assess conditions at the interface between mattress/cushions of individuals at risk of developing pressure ulcers. Recently, they have been used as a surrogate for prolonged posture and mo...
The Smart Grid is a cyber-integrated power grid that manages electricity generation, transmission, and distribution to consumers and central to its functioning is the substation. However, integrating cyber-infrastructure into the substation has incre...
The Gaussian settlement-trough model assumes that ground settlement occurs because tunneling is symmetrical about the tunnel centerline. However, the shield causing the settlement operates in an asymmetric posture during earth pressure balance (EPB)...
The standard for ergonomics of the thermal environment provides information on the calculation of optimal thermal comfort. Operative temperature (OT) is one of the essential elements of thermal comfort and is a function of air temperature, mean radia...
In factories, human posture recognition facilitates human–machine collaboration, human risk management, and workflow improvement. Compared to optical sensors, inertial sensors have the advantages of portability and resistance to obstruction, ma...
This study examined competitive wheelchairs that facilitate sports participation. They can be moved straight ahead using only one arm. Our designed and developed competitive wheel-chairs have a dual hand-rim system. Their two hand-rims, attached to a...
Greater understanding of the grip postures preferred by users is needed for the ergonomic design of smartphone user interfaces. The present study identifies user-preferred grip postures by smartphone size and hand size in one-handed hard key operatio...
In forest operations, traditional ergonomic studies have been carried out by assessing body posture manually, but such assessments may suffer in terms of efficiency and reliability. Advancements in machine learning provided the opportunity to overcom...
17 August 2022
This study investigated how sitting and standing working postures affected operation force, upper limb muscle activation, and task performance using different pointing devices. Fifteen male participants completed cursor aiming and dragging tasks usin...
Background and Objectives: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur as a result of the deterioration of the static and dynamic stability of the knee. One of the structures involved in providing static stability is the patellofemoral angle (Q a...
This article presents the design, analysis, and prototype testing of a four-degrees-of-freedom (4-DoFs) spatial pose adjustment system (SPAS) that achieves high-precision positioning with 4-DoFs (Z/Tip/Tilt/
(1) Background: Musculoskeletal disorders of the upper limbs are a common medical condition among dental hygienists and dentists, making them a common occupational risk for dental professionals. The purpose of the work was to collect information abou...
The study sampled six representative work sites in Northern and Central Italy, in order to assess the risk for developing musculo-skeletal disease due to poor work posture (postural risk) among the operators engaged in semi-mechanized post debarking...
5 March 2019
The analysis of the postural attitude of workers during the interaction with workstation’s elements and working environment is essential in the evaluation and prevention of biomechanical overload risk in workplaces. RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Asses...
CV. Valasindo Sentra Usaha (VSU) is a garden furniture manufacturing company with a raw material division that has the highest number of workers and machines. The crosscut machine operators in this division reported pain in the arms, shoulders, waist...
The Crabster CR200 is an underwater walking robot inspired by crabs and lobsters, designed for precise seabed inspection and manipulation. It maintains stability and position on the seafloor, even in strong currents, by adjusting its posture through...
7 November 2019
Ergonomics research strives to make workers’ labor more efficient, safer, and more comfortable. Therefore, six digital humans and welding torch model were built and evaluated based on the Jack software in order to improve the ergonomics of weld...
This paper presents a deep-learning-based system for classifying pig postures, aiming to improve the management of sustainable smart pigsties. The classification of pig postures is a crucial concern for researchers investigating pigsty environments a...
Background/Objectives: Lightweight and portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) systems enable neuromonitoring in clinical environments such as operating rooms. Patient posture is known to influence physiology, behavior, and brain activ...
This study aimed to quantify the postures and muscle activity while parks and gardens workers operated ride-on mowers during a typical shift. Eight participants operated ride-on mowers in the same park but on different terrains (flat and undulating)....
Forest operations often expose workers to physical risks, including posture-related disorders such as low back pain. The Ovako Working Posture Assessment System (OWAS) is widely used to assess postures in forest operations, but it requires expertise...
The accelerator pedal in a vehicle can be pressed by either of two (natural and rotated) foot postures, according to driver preference. Since the rotated foot posture requires only foot motion to switch between the brake and accelerator pedals, most...
30 May 2019
Short rotation poplar forests are a viable alternative in producing high quality wood for industrial applications. Their success depends on timely and high-quality implementation of a series of operations. Weed control operations are implemented to f...
3 January 2022
Exposure to ergonomic risk factors has been reported for laboratory workers over decades. However, these exposures are not well characterized with respect to the type of laboratory or work organization. This study compared biomechanical exposure to u...
The present study aimed to assess the effects of posterior spinal correction and fusion on postural stability in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). The study included 41 female patients with AIS at our institution. All patients perf...
This study explores the optimization of the TIAGo robot’s configuration for grasping operation, with a focus on the context of aging. In fact, featuring a mobile base and a robotic arm, the TIAGo robot can conveniently aid individuals with disa...
This study aimed to compare functional outcomes including knee muscle strength in the quadriceps and hamstrings, and proprioception, assessed through dynamic postural stability (overall stability index [OSI]) and self-reported outcomes in the operate...
Posture detection is essential for capsule robots to be manipulated in a relatively closed gastrointestinal (GI) tract and to fulfill some medical operations. In this paper, a posture detection technique for a magnetic-actuated dual-hemisphere capsul...
We design and construct a prone positioning device for postural drainage therapy. The device uses a linear motor control system to extend and retract its structure, allowing controlled elevation and lowering of the device. The mechanism maintains an...
Inadequate postures adopted by an operator at work are among the most important risk factors in Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs). Although several studies have focused on inadequate posture, there is limited information on its identific...
Background: The widespread use of portable electronic devices may involve prolonged exposure to altered cranio-cervical postures. This study investigated whether participants classified as HT+ and HT− according to a predefined operational class...
Aiming at the robotic pruning of tomatoes in greenhouses, a new PRRPR configuration robotic arm consisting of two prismatic (P) joints and three revolute (R) joints was designed to locate the end effector to handle randomly growing branches with an a...
Tractor overturning accidents are a prominent safety concern in the field of agriculture. Many studies have been conducted to prevent tractor overturning accidents. Rollover protective structures and seat belts currently installed on tractors cannot...
Smart homes are the most important sustainability technology of our future. In smart homes, intelligent monitoring is an important component. However, there is currently no effective method for human posture detection for monitoring in smart homes. S...
28 March 2021
Background: Postural tone alterations are expressions of myofascial and, therefore, of structural, visceral, and emotional disorders. To prevent these disorders, this study proposes a quantitative investigation method which administers a postural eva...
Attention and awareness towards musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in the dental profession has increased considerably in the last few years. From recent literature reviews, it appears that the prevalence of MSDs in dentists concerns between 64 and 93%...
This paper explores the opportunities and challenges for classifying human posture in indoor scenarios by analyzing the Frequency-Modulated (FM) radio broadcasting signal received at multiple locations. More specifically, we present a passive RF test...
In modern shipbuilding, the structural complexity of ship components and the constrained workspace make robotic grinding prone to collisions. To improve safety and stability, this paper proposes a collision-free posture optimization method for ship-c...
A custom HW design of a Fully Convolutional Neural Network (FCN) is presented in this paper to implement an embeddable Human Posture Recognition (HPR) system capable of very high accuracy both for laying and sitting posture recognition. The FCN explo...
Ergonomic assessment and validation are important in designing sustainable forest operations. Measurement and grading play a central role in the wood supply chain and updated solutions have started to emerge for such activities. Procuring biometric d...
Ergonomics is important for smooth and sustainable industrial operation. In the manufacturing industry, due to poor workstation design, workers frequently and repeatedly experience uncomfortable postures and actions (reaching above their shoulders, b...
The proportion of welding work in total man-hours required for shipbuilding processes has been perceived to be significant, and welding man-hours are greatly affected by working posture. Continuous research has been conducted to identify the posture...
Robotic manipulators can interact with large, heavy objects through whole-arm manipulation. Combined with direct physical interaction between humans and robots, the patient can be anchored in care. However, the complexity of this scenario requires co...
For many applications (e.g., surveillance and disaster response), situational awareness is essential. In these applications, human body posture recognition in real time plays a crucial role for corresponding response. Traditional posture recognition...
Traditionally, paraplegic patients have relied on a wheelchair to travel. However, new developments in walking assistance technology have led to promising exoskeleton-type wearable robots that can help paraplegic patients walk. Operation of this new...
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