Evaluation of Body Discomfort Score of Agricultural Worker during Weeding Operation

kumari, Prem; Maski, Devanand; Veerangouda, M.; Shirwal, Sunil

doi:10.20546/ijcmas.2018.710.039

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…ODR ratings which were lowest for tractor T1, followed by tractors T2 and T3, also conformed with the EMG and forced responses of muscle strain and workloads. ODRs were also higher for higher forward speeds as those resulted in increased vibrations and enhanced muscle activities [ 56 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workload Assessment of Tractor Operations with Ergonomic Transducers and Machine Learning Techniques

Hota

Tewari

Chandel

2023

Sensors

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Dynamic muscular workload assessments of tractor operators are rarely studied or documented, which is critical to improving their performance efficiency and safety. A study was conducted to assess and model dynamic load on muscles, physiological variations, and discomfort of the tractor operators arriving from the repeated clutch and brake operations using wearable non-invasive ergonomic transducers and data-run techniques. Nineteen licensed tractor operators operated three different tractor types of varying power ranges at three operating speeds (4–5 km/h), and on two common operating surfaces (tarmacadam and farm roads). During these operations, ergonomic transducers were utilized to capture the load on foot muscles (gastrocnemius right [GR] and soleus right [SR] for brake operation and gastrocnemius left [GL], and soleus left [SL] for clutch operation) using electromyography (EMG). Forces exerted by the feet during brake and clutch operations were measured using a custom-developed foot transducer. During the process, heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption rates (OCR) were also measured using HR monitor and K4b2 systems, and energy expenditure rate (EER) was determined using empirical equation. Post-tractor operation cycle, an overall discomfort rating (ODR) for that operation was manually recorded on a 10-point psychophysical scale. EMG-based maximum volumetric contraction (%MVC) measurements revealed higher strain on GR (%MVC = 43%), GL (%MVC = 38%), and SR (%MVC = 41%) muscles which in normal conditions should be below 30%. The clutch and brake actuation forces were recorded in the ranges of 90–312 N and 105–332 N, respectively and were significantly affected by the operating speed, tractor type, and operating surface (p < 0.05). EERs of the operators were measured in the moderate-heavy to heavy ranges (9–24 kJ/min) during the course of trials, suggesting the need to refine existing clutch and brake system designs. Average operator ODR responses indicated 7.8% operations in light, 48.5% in light-moderate, 25.2% in moderate, 10.7% in moderate-high, and 4.9% operations in high discomfort categories. When evaluated for the possibility of minimizing the number of transducers for physical workload assessment, EER showed moderate-high correlations with the EMG signals (rGR = 0.78, rGL = 0.75, rSR = 0.68, rSL = 0.66). Similarly, actuation forces had higher correlations with EMG signals for all the selected muscles (r = 0.70–0.87), suggesting the use of simpler transducers for effective operator workload assessment. As a means to minimize subjectivity in ODR responses, machine learning algorithms, including K-nearest neighbor (KNN), random forest classifier (RFC), and support vector machine (SVM), predicted the ODR using body mass index (BMI), HR, EER, and EMG at high accuracies of 87–97%, with RFC being the most accurate. Such high-throughput and data-run ergonomic evaluations can be instrumental in reconsidering workplace designs and better fits for end-users in terms of agricultural tractors and machinery systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Workload Assessment of Tractor Operations with Ergonomic Transducers and Machine Learning Techniques

Hota

Tewari

Chandel

2023

Sensors

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“…In agricultural operations, it has been discovered that muscular pain of the body is relatively more important than heart rate and oxygen consumption rate as limiting factors. For the evaluation of body ache, a number of individual rating scales have been developed, but visual analogue pain scales are the ones most frequently used [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Ergonomic Assessment of Manually Operated Modified Linseed Crop Thresher

Patel¹,

Moses²,

Aalam³

2022

IJPSS

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Manually operated modified linseed crop thresher was developed from ergonomics considerations. Anthropometric data were taken in selected age subjects 25-40 years for male workers. Anthropometric data regarding body dimensions were obtained for male workers from SHUATS, Prayagraj. During the methods of threshing operation (thresher and traditional method) the working heart rate was recorded with proper technique and oxygen consumption rate, energy expenditure rate and body parts discomfort scoring was obtained. The heart rate, oxygen consumption, energy expenditure rate and BPDS were obtained in the mean value 115.19 beats/min, 0.63 l/min, 9.59 kJ/min and 44.93 for thresher operating whereas 127.56 beats/min, 0.77 l/min, 11.56 kJ/min and 55.43 for traditional method operating.

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Evaluation of Body Discomfort Score of Agricultural Worker during Weeding Operation

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

Workload Assessment of Tractor Operations with Ergonomic Transducers and Machine Learning Techniques

Workload Assessment of Tractor Operations with Ergonomic Transducers and Machine Learning Techniques

Development and Ergonomic Assessment of Manually Operated Modified Linseed Crop Thresher

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