Human and Robotic Testing in Gloveboxes to Reduce Worker Fatigue - 19542
- Florida International University's Applied Research Center (United States)
- Florida International University's Electrical and Computer Engineer Department (United States)
- Florida Atlantic University's Ocean and Mechanical Engineering Department (United States)
- Idaho National Lab (United States)
A DOE-sponsored study conducted by the Los Alamos National Laboratory reported that the incidence rate of repetitive stress injuries (RSI) during manipulation tasks in glovebox and hot cell workspaces increased from 22% after 1-2 hours of work per day to 50% after 3 hours of work per day due to fatigue, repetitive motion, and hyperextension. Robotics can be a viable solution to this issue as robotic manipulators and wearable robotic devices can provide effective assistance to alleviate the workload. In order to use the robotic devices, an initial study to detect the amount of fatigue experienced by the glovebox operators is essential. Hence, in the present research two objectives have been specified and investigated. These include the use of electromyography (EMG) sensors to precisely detect the fatigue in various hands, arm and shoulder muscles and; the use of dexterous robotic arm and hand combinations to effectively perform certain repetitive and monotonous tasks conducted inside an in-house glovebox constructed for the research. A UR5 robotic arm and an i-limb artificial hand have been used. Human tests included eight subjects and two customized glovebox tasks. Pilot scale test results indicate variation in the mean frequency which is an indication of the level of fatigue that occurred. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 23005401
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-21-WM-19542; TRN: US21V1328045735
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2019: 45. Annual Waste Management Conference, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 3-7 Mar 2019; Other Information: Country of input: France; 6 refs.; available online at: https://www.xcdsystem.com/wmsym/2019/index.html
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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