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Materials Today: Proceedings: Harold Villacís Jara, Iván Zambrano Orejuela, J.M. Baydal-Bertomeu
Materials Today: Proceedings: Harold Villacís Jara, Iván Zambrano Orejuela, J.M. Baydal-Bertomeu
Materials Today: Proceedings: Harold Villacís Jara, Iván Zambrano Orejuela, J.M. Baydal-Bertomeu
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Assessing ergonomic risk in real working conditions is a challenge for ergonomists, who use observa-
Available online xxxx tional methods to collect information, with RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) being one of the most
widely used. The disadvantage of these methods is that data collection is subjective and is based on esti-
Keywords: mates of projected angles on photos and/or videos, which leads to variations according to the criteria of
RULA each evaluator. For this reason, this work proposes the use of the Kinect V2 commercial sensor, as a tool
Kinect V2 for ergonomic assessment in real working conditions in industry. In the study, data such as planes, angles
Ergonomic risk
and positions of the worker were obtained, which the RULA method needs to determine the existence of
Ergonomic assessment
Real working conditions
ergonomic risk. The application of the sensor was carried out in real working conditions and it was per-
Marker-less motion capture system formed to an operator of a bridge beam assembly line in a metalworking factory. Then, the trajectory and
angle curves were obtained by means of an algorithm; and were compared with those of a standard
motion capture system in a photogrammetry laboratory. Finally, the RULA score obtained by the imple-
mented system was validated by an expert.
Ó 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Advances in Mechanical
Engineering Trends
⇑ Corresponding author.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.07.482
2214-7853/Ó 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Advances in Mechanical Engineering Trends
Please cite this article as: H. Villacís Jara, Iván Zambrano Orejuela and J.M. Baydal-Bertomeu, Study of the ergonomic risk in operators of an assembly line
using the RULA method in real working conditions through the application of a commercial sensor, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.matpr.2021.07.482
H. Villacís Jara, Iván Zambrano Orejuela and J.M. Baydal-Bertomeu Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
1.1. State of the Art principle of adaptation of work to the person, which is the objec-
tive of occupational ergonomics.
One of the first investigations of the Kinect V1 for its application
in ergonomics is presented in [7], published in 2011, showing a 2.3. The RULA method
comparison of the data from this sensor with a pattern motion cap-
ture system, which provided good results. Then, in 2014, Microsoft Within ergonomic risk identification methods, the RULA
included a new sensor model, the Kinect V2, which has faster method is one of the most widely used observational posture
response and better accuracy than the previous version. Regarding assessment tools, which was developed for use in ergonomic work-
ergonomics, published in 2016 [3], a study with the application of place research where disorders of upper body limbs related to pos-
the Kinect V2 in real working conditions is described, in which it is tures and loads occur [9]. Given a RULA posture, a score will be
indicated that the RULA scores obtained with the help of the sensor obtained from which a certain level of performance is established.
and by ergonomics experts, had similarity in about 75% of cases This level of performance will indicate whether the posture is
and suggests a deeper analysis about the location of the sensor acceptable or to what extent changes or redesigns in the position
to decrease the error. Then, published in 2017 [8], a study shows are necessary.
an ergonomics assessment for tractor drivers, suggesting not only RULA divides the body into two groups, Group A which includes
the identification of risk postures, but a continuous real-time anal- the upper limbs (arms, forearms and wrists) and Group B, compris-
ysis with the RULA method. ing legs, trunk and neck [9]. The final RULA score ranges from 1 to 7
As explained above, to date there is little research into the and proposes the so-called levels of performance on the work place,
application of such commercial sensors in the field of ergonomics. which are detailed below:
Score 1 or 2 (level of performance 1): The worker’s task presents
an acceptable risk and no changes are required.
2. Theoretical framework
Score 3 or 4 (level of performance 2): The worker’s task needs
further study, changes may be required.
As explained in the State of the Art, the assessment of the
Score 5 or 6 (level of performance 3): The task needs changes; the
potential risks of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) under real
job redesign is suggested.
working conditions has its complexity because the specialist must
Score 7 (level of performance 4): The task needs urgent changes.
determine angles and real positions of critical postures on pho-
tographs. At present, several methods have been developed to
assist in ergonomic risk assessment, which can be divided into 3. The material and method
three groups, according to measurement technique: self-
assessment methods, direct measurements and observational This section describes the elaboration of a tool to assist ergono-
methods [3]. mists or industrial and occupational safety personnel of companies
Self-assessment methods have the disadvantage of being quite in the assessment of the ergonomic risk of workers in the industrial
subjective, as they are based on questionnaires, checklists and field, using the RULA method. This tool consists of a pseudo-code
interviews that can lead to biased interpretations. Direct methods, and an interface (both made in Matlab). In the interface, the user
on the other hand, collect information from a system with sensors manually enters parameters that are out of range of the sensor.
placed in the worker’s body, but that is uncomfortable, costly and Also, the interface indicates the RULA score and the level of perfor-
virtually impossible to implement in real working conditions [2]. mance of the person analyzed in real time.
Regarding observational methods, they are widely applied in the
industry and consist of direct observation to the worker during 3.1. Data acquisition and skeleton tracking
the performance of his activities. However, these methods have
the main disadvantage of requiring a field expert to perform a Kinect V2 is a system that provides video images of three types:
time-consuming posture analysis, more than their veracity is RGB, depth, and infrared. With this, the first step is to generate an
related to the quality of information collected and specialist object in Matlab by specifying the type of image required from the
estimates. sensor, that is, RGB and depth.
The data is organized into an array of matrices, each array con-
sists of the position data organized into 3x25 matrices with the X,
2.1. BTS SMART D motion analysis system
Y, Z data of the 25 points detected in space (Fig. 1).
Jobs that involve prolonged efforts or repetitive movements Trunk plane: determined through the spine and the right and
increase risk factors in the employee’s health. For this reason, left hip, i.e. it consists of points 13, 17, 21 (Fig. 1).
physical stress accumulates in the worker and in the medium or Sagittal plane: is perpendicular to the straight line that connects
long term, health problems appear, mainly musculoskeletal disor- the right hip with the left hip and passes through the center of
ders. Musculoskeletal disorders are a set of inflammatory or degen- the hip, that is, the plane is formed by points 13, 17, 1 in Fig. 1.
erative lesions of bones, muscles, tendons, joints, ligaments, blood Front plane: is a vertical plane that passes through the right hip
vessels and nerves. and left hip, i.e., formed by points 13, 17 in Fig. 1.
There is no single solution to avoid such problems, then the Cross plane: is a horizontal plane that passes through the right
general way of preventing ergonomic risk is to apply the general and left hips.
2
H. Villacís Jara, Iván Zambrano Orejuela and J.M. Baydal-Bertomeu Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Ax þ By þ Cz þ D ¼ 0 ð2Þ
4
H. Villacís Jara, Iván Zambrano Orejuela and J.M. Baydal-Bertomeu Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
3.5.1. Features of the photogrammetry laboratory used BTS SMART and Kinect V2 systems recorded the trajectories of
The biomechanical motion analysis laboratory consists of 6 BTS the movement with different software, so that each data acquisi-
Bioengineering optoelectronic cameras, BTS SMART D information tion is analyzed independently. Then, it is determined that the tra-
processing unit and SMART Capture software. jectories of both the laboratory and Kinect V2 systems are very
similar and the trajectories closest to the laboratory system are
obtained on the Y axis, as shown in Fig. 7.
3.5.2. Validation protocol definition At this point, it is important to mention that the RULA method
A volunteer was recruited as a participant to simulate the oper- considers certain angles to get the final score, so the next step is to
ator’s movements in the photogrammetry lab. The first step is to calculate the values of these angles with the data acquired by the
place the markers on the body of the subject who will repeat the BTS Smart and Kinect V2 system. To determine the accuracy of
movements. The markers were placed in similar positions to the the Kinect V2 sensor, the Mean Square Error (RMSE) was obtained.
points detected by Kinect V2. Also, The Kinect sensor was then Also, the Normalized Mean Square Error (NRMSE) is calculated
placed in the same position as when applied in the industry which divides the RMSE for the range of values measured by the
(Fig. 6). marker system, as shown in Table 1.
Fig 6. Simultaneous data acquisition with BTS Smart system and Kinect V2.
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H. Villacís Jara, Iván Zambrano Orejuela and J.M. Baydal-Bertomeu Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig 8. Angle of the right forearm. Fig 9. Risk position of the task analyzed according to ergonomics expert.
6
H. Villacís Jara, Iván Zambrano Orejuela and J.M. Baydal-Bertomeu Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
of manual filling is added in the interface, as well as the type of or by other parts of the same body. The Kinect V2 has an internal
activity and load supported. algorithm that allows to infer the joints that present occlusion.
The detection depth range according to the Kinect V2 manual is Nevertheless, in these cases the RULA score would not be reliable.
up to 4.5 m, thus the placement position of the Kinect V2 should The best results are presented when the worker is facing the cam-
vary according to the task to be analyzed until the best conditions era or with little deviation from the frontal axis, with good lighting
are found: skeleton tracking, ambient light and environmental and little ambient occlusion.
occlusion. Finally, the Kinect V2 sensor has a very acceptable reliability for
capturing motion. To use this sensor in biomechanical studies, it
4.4. Future works must be considered that it provides general information on the
movement of the body, and that it is difficult to detect small vari-
This project focuses on the field of research dealing with the use ations, that is, the Kinect V2 responds much better when the per-
of low-cost depth sensors, such as Kinect V2, in ergonomic assess- son’s movements are not very fast. Therefore, a more in-depth
ments, which has been very little explored; and therefore, there are study in this field is necessary to improve its precision.
a variety of studies and projects that can be developed on this
topic, for instance: CRediT authorship contribution statement
Ergonomic assessment in other jobs: There are other tasks and Harold Villacís Jara: Conceptualization, Methodology, Soft-
jobs in which it is possible to explore such as: offices, vehicle ware, Investigation, Validation, Writing - original draft, Visualiza-
drivers, health care-related jobs, etc. tion, Data curation. Iván Zambrano Orejuela: Supervision,
Multi-sensor systems: As mentioned above, one of the limita- Validation, Investigation, Writing - review & editing. J.M. Baydal-
tions of the system implemented is the occlusion, both of the Bertomeu: Supervision.
environment and of the subject of analysis. A solution to this
problem may be to perform a system with two or more sensors, Declaration of Competing Interest
in order to have a greater range of view of the worker.
Other ergonomic assessment methods: This study aims to lead The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
further research involving other ergonomic assessment cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
methods. to influence the work reported in this paper.
5. Conclusions References
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