Motion Capture Technology in Industrial Applications: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The rapid technological advancements of Industry 4.0 have opened up new vectors for novel industrial processes that require advanced sensing solutions for their realization. Motion capture (MoCap) sensors, such as visual cameras and inertial measurement units (IMUs), are frequently adopted in industrial settings to support solutions in robotics, additive manufacturing, teleworking and human safety. This review synthesizes and evaluates studies investigating the use of MoCap technologies in industry-related research. A search was performed in the Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Only studies in English, from 2015 onwards, on primary and secondary industrial applications were considered. The quality of the articles was appraised with the AXIS tool. Studies were categorized based on type of used sensors, beneficiary industry sector, and type of application. Study characteristics, key methods and findings were also summarized. In total, 1682 records were identified, and 59 were included in this review. Twenty-one and 38 studies were assessed as being prone to medium and low risks of bias, respectively. Camera-based sensors and IMUs were used in 40% and 70% of the studies, respectively. Construction (30.5%), robotics (15.3%) and automotive (10.2%) were the most researched industry sectors, whilst health and safety (64.4%) and the improvement of industrial processes or products (17%) were the most targeted applications. Inertial sensors were the first choice for industrial MoCap applications. Camera-based MoCap systems performed better in robotic applications, but camera obstructions caused by workers and machinery was the most challenging issue. Advancements in machine learning algorithms have been shown to increase the capabilities of MoCap systems in applications such as activity and fatigue detection as well as tool condition monitoring and object recognition.

Synergy-Based Sensor Reduction for Recording the Whole Hand Kinematics

“…The recording of hand kinematics can be carried out using different devices that employ different motion capture technologies [ 1 ]: Electrogoniometers [ 2 ], instrumented gloves [ 3 , 4 , 5 ], optical tracking systems [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] or inertial sensors that incorporate magnetometers, accelerometers, and gyroscopes [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. Electrogoniometers are commonly used in clinical practice to measure the range of motion (RoM) of joints [ 14 ].…”

Metrological Evaluation of Human–Robot Collaborative Environments Based on Optical Motion Capture Systems

“…Their accuracy makes them able to be used as a gold standard for evaluating other motion measurement systems [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. However, they are also increasingly used in collaborative robots, because a shared workspace equipped with an OMC system can greatly improve the possibility of safe and dynamic interactions between humans and machines [ 13 ].…”

Performance Evaluation of Optical Motion Capture Sensors for Assembly Motion Capturing

“…To this end, it is necessary to find a demonstration platform suitable to obtain the human operators' 3C product assembly motions, i.e. finding a suitable motion capture technique [8] [9]. As the 3C product assembly motions involve complicated motions of fingers and bimanual collaboration, the optical motion capture sensors, which have been included in studies of LfD for assembly applications [10]- [14], provides an effective way to record the workers' 3C product assembly motions [15].…”