Real Time Ergonomic Assessment for Assembly Operations Using Kinect

Ergonomic assessments assist in preventing work related musculoskeletal injuries and provide safer workplace environments. The 3D motion capture environments are not suitable for many work places due to space, cost and calibration limitations. The Kinect sensor, which was introduced in the Xbox game console, provides a low-cost portable motion capture system. This sensor is capable of capturing and tracking 3D coordinates of a moving target with an accuracy comparable to state of the art commercial systems. This paper investigates the application of Kinect for real time rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) to aid in ergonomic analysis for assembly operations in industrial environments. A framework to integrate various motion capture technologies as well as different assessment methods is presented.

[1]  Luiz Velho,et al.  Kinect and RGBD Images: Challenges and Applications , 2012, 2012 25th SIBGRAPI Conference on Graphics, Patterns and Images Tutorials.

[2]  Jonathan Wheat,et al.  MARKER-LESS TRACKING OF HUMAN MOVEMENT USING MICROSOFT KINECT , 2012 .

[3]  Michael Hayes,et al.  Altitude control of a quadrotor helicopter using depth map from Microsoft Kinect sensor , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics.

[4]  Andrew D. Wilson.  Using a depth camera as a touch sensor , 2010, ITS '10.

[5]  Kin Fun Li,et al.  A Web-Based Sign Language Translator Using 3D Video Processing , 2011, 2011 14th International Conference on Network-Based Information Systems.

[6]  Kourosh Khoshelham,et al.  Accuracy analysis of kinect depth data , 2012 .

[7]  S Hignett,et al.  Rapid entire body assessment (REBA). , 2000, Applied ergonomics.

[8]  J P Callaghan,et al.  Determining the minimum sampling rate needed to accurately quantify cumulative spine loading from digitized video. , 2003, Applied ergonomics.

[9]  Albert A. Rizzo,et al.  Development and evaluation of low cost game-based balance rehabilitation tool using the microsoft kinect sensor , 2011, 2011 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[10]  L McAtamney,et al.  RULA: a survey method for the investigation of work-related upper limb disorders. , 1993, Applied ergonomics.

[11]  C. C. Martin,et al.  A real-time ergonomic monitoring system using the Microsoft Kinect , 2012, 2012 IEEE Systems and Information Engineering Design Symposium.

[12]  Marimuthu Palaniswami,et al.  Computational intelligence for movement sciences : neural networks and other emerging techniques , 2006 .

[13]  Günther Greiner,et al.  Automatic reconstruction of personalized avatars from 3D face scans , 2011, Comput. Animat. Virtual Worlds.

[14]  Linda Denehy,et al.  Validity of the Microsoft Kinect for assessment of postural control. , 2012, Gait & posture.

[15]  R. Kaplan.  The role of nature in the context of the workplace , 1993 .

[16]  Fabio Menna,et al.  Geometric investigation of a gaming active device , 2011, Optical Metrology.

[17]  Andrew W. Fitzgibbon,et al.  KinectFusion: real-time 3D reconstruction and interaction using a moving depth camera , 2011, UIST.

[18]  Leon Mishnaevsky,et al.  Micromechanical analysis of nanocomposites using 3D voxel based material model , 2012 .

[19]  Tilak Dutta,et al.  Evaluation of the Kinect™ sensor for 3-D kinematic measurement in the workplace. , 2012, Applied ergonomics.

[20]  Yuchi Young,et al.  Work-Related Injuries , 2013, Journal of aging and health.

[21]  Saeid Nahavandi,et al.  Kinect crowd interaction , 2012 .

[22]  Saeid Nahavandi,et al.  Haptically enable interactive virtual assembly training system development and evaluation , 2009 .

[23]  Didier Stricker,et al.  3D shape scanning with a Kinect , 2011, SIGGRAPH '11.