Visibility Evaluation for Agricultural Tractor Operators According to ISO 5006 and 5721-1 Standards

Abstract

Purpose: A system to measure the visibility of agricultural tractor operators was designed and evaluated according to ISO standards, and a blind area diagram around the tested tractor was created based on the manual method recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Methods: A visibility measurement system was designed and evaluated based on the ISO 5006 and ISO 5721-1 standards. Two bulbs used to simulate the operator's eyes were mounted on a bar with a supporting frame. A wooden frame was used to determine the seat index point position. The 12-m visibility test circle was divided into six sectors of vision, and the test tractor was placed at the center of the circle. Artificial light was supplied in the darkened environment, and shadow or masking effects were measured manually around the 12-m circle. Results: When the bulbs were placed at the operator's eye level, front visibility was good; no masking was found in the "A" vision sector, but larger masking widths were found in the "B" and "C" vision sectors. Since the masking width exceeded 700 mm, additional tests, such as movement of the light sources to both sides of the operator's eye level, were performed. Less than six masking effects were found in the semi-circle of vision to the front, and more than one masking was found in the "B" and "C" visual fields. The minimum distance between the centers of two masking effects exceeded 2500 mm when measured as a chord on the semi-circle of vision. A blind area diagram was created to define the exact nature of the blind spots and mirror visibility. Conclusions: Visibility evaluation is an effective way to enable proper and safe operation for agricultural tractor operators. Inclusion of this visibility evaluation test in the general testing process might aid tractor manufacturers.

Analysis of Overturning and Vibration during Field Operation of a Tractor-Mounted 4-Row Radish Collector toward Ensuring User Safety

“…Furthermore, the vibration level increased with the increasing speed of the conveyor belt in the loaded and unloaded conditions of the radish collector (Table 4). Similar findings were also observed by several researchers during the vibration analysis of agricultural vehicles and machinery [27,32,43]. The speed of each conveyor belt needs to be optimized based on radish collecting efficiency, possible damage intensity, and the overall working environment.…”

Virtual prototyping in the design of see-through features in mobile machinery

“…Visibility can be defined as the clarity with which an object in the field of view may be perceived (Barron et al 2005). If this definition is turned around, it can be said that a blind spot is a distortion or absence of visualization of a portion of the visual field (Kabir et al 2015). Such blinds spots can occur when a machine structure masks the operator's field of view.…”

“…According to Bhattacherya et al (2006), the most commonly used visibility assessment techniques are line-of-sight shadowgraphy (e.g. light bulb shadow test) (ISO 5006 2006;Kabir et al 2015), panorama photography and computer simulation programs (Badler 1997). In addition to these, Bhattacherya et al (2006) proposed the use of laser scanning for collecting visibility information.…”