The identification of physical and biomechanical risk factors associated with Work-related Musculo-Skeletal Disorders (WMSDs) is generally achieved through qualitative, and observational methods, which include self-reported questionnaires, and qualitative assessments made through the observation of tasks, and possible deviations from neutral conditions. Efforts to assess the shape of the exposure-effect relationship for manual material handling and hand intensive work have been proposed (see e.g. the Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation, RNLE, or the ACGIH TLV for manual work), and some research studies targeted the possibility to predict risk outcomes from data coming from a variety of technologies, including surface EMG, Inertial Measurement Units IMU, force sensor data. The aim of the project is to provide a comprehensive instrument-based biomechanical risk assessment associated with the use of collaborative robots in work-related scenarios, through the design and development of a multi-sensor wearable platform.
a multi-sensor wearable platform to assess Biomechanical Risk when Interacting with collaborative robotS in worK-related scenarios
Abstract