Subjects with belts lifted more slowly and used more of a squat-lift technique, regardless of box size. Belts reduced more torso motions while lifting large boxes.
The Expanding Pathways for Educational Development and Information Technology Experiences (ExPEDITE) Project is creating a smooth transition to an information technology (IT) career for students in West Virginia. This National Science Foundation funded project brought together a secondary school system, community and technical college, university and companies in the technology industry to create a model for addressing the growing need for IT professionals.The ExPEDITE project was designed to meet the growing workforce demand for IT professionals, and improve the technology education of students and the educators who prepare them. Based on comprehensive research and an evaluation of career skills and workforce needs, the project partners are enhancing current secondary and higher education IT related programs. They are developing and approving articulation agreements between secondary school, community college, and university. The project team has developed and implemented a comprehensive IT internship/mentoring program for students, secondary teachers and college professors. They have also developed and are using IT awareness materials to attract and retain students to IT career paths. The team has created an IT career continuing education course for online dissemination to secondary school counselors and teachers. The ExPEDITE project processes are reproducible and effectively provide pathways for secondary and post-secondary students to learn IT skills while exposing them to expanding IT career opportunities.
This paper describes a procedure developed and validated to assess the accuracy of an infrared-based motion measurement system used to perform a kinematic analysis of the torso with respect to the pelvis during simulated lifting tasks. Two rigid reflective marker triads were designed and fabricated for attachment to the thorax over the 6th thoracic vertebra and the pelvis. System accuracy was assessed for planar rotation as well as rotations about multiple orthogonal axes. A test fixture was used to validate known triad orientations. The spatial coordinates of these triads were collected at 120 Hz using a ProReflex motion measurement system. Single value decomposition was used to estimate a rotation matrix describing the rigid body motion of the thorax triad relative to the sacral triad at each point in time. Euler angles corresponding to flexion, lateral bending, and twisting were computed from the rotation matrix. All measurement error residuals for flexion, lateral bending, and twisting were below 1.75°. The estimated mean measurement errors were less than 1° in all three planes. These results suggest that the motion measurement system is reliable and accurate to within approximately 1.5° for the angles examined.
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