Digital Twin Technology of Human-Machine Integration in Cross-Belt Sorting System

The Chinese express delivery industry processes nearly 110 billion items in 2022,averaging an annual growth rate of 200%.Among the various types of sorting systems used for handling express items,cross-belt sorting systems stand out as the most crucial.However,despite their high degree of automation,the workload for operators has intensified owing to the surging volume of express items.In the era of Industry 5.0,it is imperative to adopt new technologies that not only enhance worker welfare but also improve the efficiency of cross-belt systems.Striking a balance between efficiency in handling express items and operator well-being is challenging.Digital twin technology offers a promising solution in this respect.A realization method of a human-machine integrated digital twin is proposed in this study,enabling the interaction of biological human bodies,virtual human bodies,virtual equipment,and logistics equipment in a closed loop,thus setting an operating framework.Key technologies in the proposed framework include a collection of heterogeneous data from multiple sources,construction of the relationship between operator fatigue and operation efficiency based on physiological measurements,virtual model construction,and an online optimization module based on real-time simulation.The feasibility of the proposed method was verified in an express distribution center.

Designing interactive glazing through an engineering psychology approach:Six augmented reality scenarios that envision future car human-machine interface

Background With an increasing number of vehicles becoming autonomous,intelligent,and connected,paying attention to the future usage of car human-machine interface with these vehicles should become more relevant.Several studies have addressed car HMI but were less attentive to designing and implementing interactive glazing for every day(autonomous)driving contexts.Methods Reflecting on the literature,we describe an engineering psychology practice and the design of six novel future user scenarios,which envision the application of a specific set of augmented reality(AR)support user interactions.Additionally,we conduct evaluations on specific scenarios and experiential prototypes,which reveal that these AR scenarios aid the target user groups in experiencing a new type of interaction.The overall evaluation is positive with valuable assessment results and suggestions.Conclusions This study can interest applied psychology educators who aspire to teach how AR can be operationalized in a human-centered design process to students with minimal pre-existing expertise or minimal scientific knowledge in engineering psychology.

虚拟装配中DELMIA/Ergonomics的应用研究

介绍了虚拟装配以及DELMIA/Ergonomics模块功能。应用DELMIA/Ergonomics引入了人体模型;通过调整人体模型尺寸及其姿态并结合人机工程学对装配工具进行尺寸修改设计;结合虚拟装配技术,对装配模型进行虚拟装配,从而检验了装配模型的装配可达性,体现了人机工程学在虚拟装配中的作用。

Information Coding for Cockpit Human-machine Interface

Pilot needs to process lots of information when operating an aircraft, and reasonable information coding can greatly improve the correct rate and speed of information identification. At present, related researches are mainly performed in the laboratory, and the experiment method for abstract simulation is often used to research single digit information coding. The research results demonstrate a lack of systematization and applicability. The present study is based upon information coding methods of human-machine interface under real time in flight simulators. Subjects are required to perform an aircraft landing and the corresponding experiment task. The correct rate and reaction time are chosen as the performance evaluation indexes, combined with eye movement data. The advantages and disadvantages of different information coding methods are also evaluated and analyzed. The experiment results demonstrate that the effect of color coding on the correct rate of information identification is not significant, but the effect on the speed of information identification is obviously significant. The study demonstrates that on a black background, red, green and yellow are suitable colors for color coding, but blue is not. The position of information on the performance of information identification is also significant. The center of the interface is better than the edge, and the left position is superior to the right. The impact of language and a person＇s mother tongue should also be considered in practical applications. The study shows that the Chinese has a higher correct rate of identification than English. As the experiment research method in the present study is based on flight simulator, the actual utility and application value can be guaranteed. The research results have the ability to offer improvements in ergonomic reference for cockpit human-machine interface design.

Clinical outcomes and ergonomics analysis of three laparoscopic techniques for Hirschsprung's disease

AIM: To report the clinical outcomes and ergonomics analysis of three laparoscopic approaches in the management of Hirschsprung's disease(HD).METHODS: There were 90 pediatric patients(63 boys, 27 girls; mean age: 3.6 ± 2.7 mo; range: 1.0-90.2 mo) who underwent laparoscopic endorectal pull-through Soave procedures for short- and long-segment HD in our hospital. Three laparoscopic approaches were used: conventional laparoscopic pull-through(CLP) in 30 patients between 2009 and 2013, single-incision laparoscopic pull-through(SILP) in 28 patients between 2010 and 2013, and hybrid single-incision laparoscopic pull-through(H-SILP) in 32 patients between 2011 and 2013. We applied the hybrid version of the single-incision approach in 2011 to preserve the cosmetic advantage of SILP and the ergonomic advantage of CLP. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data, cosmetic results, and ergonomics of these three approaches to have a better understanding of the selection of one approach over another. RESULTS: The CLP, SILP, and H-SILP groups were similar in regard to age, sex, transition zone, blood loss, hospital stay, and intraoperative complications. Early and late postoperative results were not different, with equal daily defecation frequency and postoperative complications. No conversion to open technique was needed and none of the patients had recurrent constipation. With proper training, the ergonomics challenges were overcome and similar operative times were registered for the general operative time in the patients < 1 year of age and the short-segment HD patients. However, significantly shorter operative times were registered compared to SILP for patients > 1 year of age(CLP and H-SILP: 120 ± 15 min and 119 ± 12 min, respectively, vs 140 ± 7 min; P < 0.05) and for long-segment HD patients(152 ± 3.5 min and 154 ± 3.6 min, respectively, vs 176 ± 2.3 min; P < 0.05). The best cosmetic result was registered with the SILP(scarless), followed by the H-SILP(near scarless appearance) and the CLP(visible scars) procedures. CONCLUSION: Based on the results, we believed that the laparoscopic approach should be selected according to the age, transition zone, and desired cosmetic result.

Deep Learning for EMG-based Human-Machine Interaction:A Review

Electromyography(EMG)has already been broadly used in human-machine interaction(HMI)applications.Determining how to decode the information inside EMG signals robustly and accurately is a key problem for which we urgently need a solution.Recently,many EMG pattern recognition tasks have been addressed using deep learning methods.In this paper,we analyze recent papers and present a literature review describing the role that deep learning plays in EMG-based HMI.An overview of typical network structures and processing schemes will be provided.Recent progress in typical tasks such as movement classification,joint angle prediction,and force/torque estimation will be introduced.New issues,including multimodal sensing,inter-subject/inter-session,and robustness toward disturbances will be discussed.We attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of current research by discussing the advantages,challenges,and opportunities brought by deep learning.We hope that deep learning can aid in eliminating factors that hinder the development of EMG-based HMI systems.Furthermore,possible future directions will be presented to pave the way for future research.

Fully Fabric-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators as Self-Powered Human-Machine Interactive Keyboards

Combination flexible and stretchable textiles with self-powered sensors bring a novel insight into wearable functional electronics and cyber security in the era of Internet of Things.This work presents a highly flexible and self-powered fully fabric-based triboelectric nanogenerator(F-TENG)with sandwiched structure for biomechanical energy harvesting and real-time biometric authentication.The prepared F-TENG can power a digital watch by low-frequency motion and respond to the pressure change by the fall of leaves.A self-powered wearable keyboard(SPWK)is also fabricated by integrating large-area F-TENG sensor arrays,which not only can trace and record electrophysiological signals,but also can identify individuals’typing characteristics by means of the Haar wavelet.Based on these merits,the SPWK has promising applications in the realm of wearable electronics,self-powered sensors,cyber security,and artificial intelligences.

Human Factors/Ergonomics (HFE) in Leadership and Management: Organizational Interventions to Reduce Stress in Healthcare Delivery

Clinician Burnout is a personal and public health issue. Most occupational stressors contributing to clinician burnout are systemic. The combination of organizational interventions along with individual interventions is necessary to make significant lasting difference in reducing burnout, improving clinician and patient satisfaction and reducing latent error in healthcare delivery. Application of Human Factors/Ergonomics (HFE) science in healthcare leadership and management is a gap in current training for leaders. HFE uses concepts from organizational, educational and cognitive science, systems science and industrial engineering. HFE application is especially necessary in a fast changing highly stressful healthcare environment which impacts the wellbeing of clinicians and the safety of patients under care. Practical suggestions for working with various healthcare leadership styles and organizational dynamics, while aligning wellness efforts with institutional mission are discussed. Concrete examples of decreasing extraneous mental load on clinicians to preserve their brainpower to achieve quality patient care are illustrated. Organizational interventions in combination with individual interventions to reduce and manage burnout have enormous potential to improve clinician wellbeing and satisfaction in taking care of patients, reduce costs, risk of error and create the safe working environment needed to sustainably give high quality care to patients.

A New Design of Student Apartment Bed Based on Kansei Engineering and Ergonomics

Aiming at the defects of the products available on the market at present and basing on the Kansei Engineering and Ergonomics, a new kind of student apartment bed which can prove its humanity more clearly is designed, and its design direction is gotten through the questionnaire and the design starts from the real actual needs of students. After the original design was finished, the later investigation on the students was engaged with and made the engineering analysis. The conclusion is that the sum of ＂perfect＂ and ＂good＂ membership rates is up to 64%, hence the comprehensive assessment of the design is perfect. That is to say, this design is able to realize and meet the needs of users, and there is no doubt that it will have a good business prospects.

STUDY ON ERGONOMICS AND ITS USE IN THE HARVESTING SYSTEM

This paper describes the researching aim and content of Ergonomics.Some prob-lems existing in modern harvesting system,such as machinery availability,cabin design,occupational accident,noise and vibration are discussed from the viewpoint of Ergonomics.Furthermore,some improving ways and suggestions are presented.

Benefits of laptop computer ergonomics education to graduate students

Laptop computers are used more often than desktop computers, especially among graduate students. Many common laptop habits can have severe physiological effects on the user ranging from eye strain, poor posture, upper extremity pain, and overuse injuries. Thus, it is important to educate students on the best ergonomic position to use laptops. This study investigates the efficacy of a laptop ergonomic education session and its effects on graduate students’ knowledge and behaviors regarding proper laptop use. A convenience sample of control and experimental groups was used and consisted of 83 occupational therapy (OT), 63 physical therapy (PT), and 26 nurse anesthesia (NA) graduate students. The sample size was 172, with 94 graduate students in the control group and 78 graduate students in the experimental. All study participants completed an initial ergonomics questionnaire. The experimental group was given an ergonomics education session following the questionnaire. Approximately 4 weeks after both groups completed the initial questionnaire;a follow up questionnaire was administered. Results showed that subjects demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in ergonomics knowledge after they completed the ergonomic educational session. Some participants reported making adaptations to laptop positioning and equipment use following the educational session. Thus, participating in ergonomic education can positively influence awareness of body mechanics relative to laptop workstation design.

Household Drill Innovative Design under the Guidance of Ergonomics

The household drill is named 90 Degree, designed by Industrial Design Pilot Program Center(Hereinafter referred to as IDPPC) of Luxun Academy of Fine Arts(Hereinafter referred to as LAFA), which is the only national pilot program center in Chinese industrial design field. 90 Degree is designed for home environment, it helps inexperience users, such as women and the elderly, complete the operation easily, and it makes sure that safe operation and assistance users solve the precise punching, location, storage trash and other operations. According to research among users who can understand or manipulate a drill, the designers find problems of users from the user central perspective, and then they integrate product innovative design methods to propose solutions. When the designers intend to design 90 Degree, they attempt using the user behavior record and analysis system, and start ergonomics study in subjects by double hands operation analysis, using gesture analysis, details of work analysis, time and motion study, etc; meanwhile taking advantages of user experience analysis, behavior intention analysis to do user subjective perceptual evaluation. The functions, structure, shape, color, material, details of 90 Degree should be consistent with the standard of usability evaluation. There are two characteristics in 90 Degree, the first one is a transparent cover installed in front of the drill, which can collect the dust, rubbish when drilling and keep the work environment clean. So it is applicable for households. When the transparent cover of the drill is removed, it also can be used as a normal hand drill; the second one is the shape of 90 Degree makes it and the operating surface fitting together, thus enhancing the stability in operation, so it is best for inexperienced users. When 90 Degree contacts with the operating surface, it can emit the laser ray which helps the user to punch accurately, and make array punch more easily. After obtaining the data, charts, creating Shadow observation by the designers, they make a comprehensive evaluation on research results; verification advantages of 90 Degree meet the requirement of usability, reducing operating failure rate; and increasing safety factors. 90 Degree, in 2011, wined German Red Dot Design Award, which had become a representative excellent design example to resolve several drilling difficulties. The designers introduce ergonomics theory into design practice, and use scientific program and methods to evaluate the products which is useful to the development and promotion of products.

Functional design method for improving safety and ergonomics of mechanical products

In order to help companies to improve their competetiveness, it is important to develop new design methodologies. In this framework, a Functional And Robust Design (FARD) methodology dedicated to routine design of “highly productive” modular product ranges is proposed including principles of functional analysis, Design For Assembly (DFA), and techniques of modelling and simulation for ergonomics consideration. This paper focuses on the application of this original method applied to mechanical vibration and ergonomics problems of a scraper. Including biomechanical aspect in the design methodology, it is possible to identify the impact of a vibration tool on its users using numerical models of the tool coupled to a finite element model of the human hand. This method can proactively warn very early, in the design process, the risks of causing musculoskeletal disorders and facilitate an optimization of the mechanical tool. This study is a first step in a context of human-centered design.

Ergonomics of gastrointestinal endoscopies:Musculoskeletal injury among endoscopy physicians,nurses,and technicians

BACKGROUND Musculoskeletal injuries(MSI)have plagued endoscopists and ancillary staff for decades without any innovative and strong ergonomic guidelines.It has placed a physical and mental strain on our endoscopists and ancillary staff.We have very have limited data supporting this claim in our region and most data is supported by western literature.AIM To document the prevalence of MSI,and awareness and practices of ergonomics by endoscopists and ancillary staff.METHODS This is an observational cross-sectional study,conducted in Karachi,a city that boasts the maximum number of daily endoscopies in the country.An eleven-point self-administered questionnaire was distributed and used to evaluate MSI and ergonomic adjustments amongst three tertiary care setups in Karachi.An onsite survey via a 13-point checklist for endoscopy suite facilities was used to assess the ergonomically friendly conveniences at five tertiary care setups in Karachi.A total of 56 participants replied with a filled survey.RESULTS There were 56 participants in total with 39(69.6%)males.Pain and numbness were documented by 75%of the patients,with pain in the neck(41.1%),lower back(32.1%),shoulder(21.4%),thumb(12.5%),hand(23.2%),elbow(8.9%),and carpal tunnel syndrome(CTS)(7.1%).Of those,33.3%attributed their symptoms to endoscopy, 14.2% said that symptoms were not caused by endoscopy, and 52.4% were notcertain whether endoscopy had caused their symptoms. Twenty-one point four percent of patientshad to take time off their work, while 33.9% took medications for pain. Ergonomic modifications toprevent musculoskeletal injury, including placement of endoscopic monitor at eye level and thecardiac monitor in front, stopping the procedure to move patients, sitting while performingcolonoscopy, and navigating height-adjustable bed were used by 21.4%. Nine out of 13 ergonomicfacilities were not present in all five tertiary care hospitals. Conveniences, such as anti-fatiguemats, height-adjustable computer stations, and time out between patients were not present.CONCLUSIONThree-fourth of our endoscopists reported MSI, of which more than half were not sure orattributed this problem to endoscopy. The prevalence of MSI warrants urgent attention.

BLIND SPEECH SEPARATION FOR ROBOTS WITH INTELLIGENT HUMAN-MACHINE INTERACTION

Speech recognition rate will deteriorate greatly in human-machine interaction when the speaker's speech mixes with a bystander's voice. This paper proposes a time-frequency approach for Blind Source Seperation (BSS) for intelligent Human-Machine Interaction(HMI). Main idea of the algorithm is to simultaneously diagonalize the correlation matrix of the pre-whitened signals at different time delays for every frequency bins in time-frequency domain. The prososed method has two merits: (1) fast convergence speed; (2) high signal to interference ratio of the separated signals. Numerical evaluations are used to compare the performance of the proposed algorithm with two other deconvolution algorithms. An efficient algorithm to resolve permutation ambiguity is also proposed in this paper. The algorithm proposed saves more than 10% of computational time with properly selected parameters and achieves good performances for both simulated convolutive mixtures and real room recorded speeches.

A Robotic Teleoperation System for Precise Robotic Manipulation by Human-Machine Interaction

Teleoperation is of great importance in the area of robotics,especially when people are unavailable in the robot workshop.It provides a way for people to control robots remotely using human intelligence.In this paper,a robotic teleoperation system for precise robotic manipulation is established.The data glove and the 7-degrees of freedom(DOFs)force feedback controller are used for the remote control interaction.The control system and the monitor system are designed for the remote precise manipulation.The monitor system contains an image acquisition system and a human-machine interaction module,and aims to simulate and detect the robot running state.Besides,a visual object tracking algorithm is developed to estimate the states of the dynamic system from noisy observations.The established robotic teleoperation systemis applied to a series of experiments,and high-precision results are obtained,showing the effectiveness of the physical system.

Ergonomic Reliability Assessment of VDT Systemfor Operation Design Based on Improved BPNN and HCR under Special Circumstances

Ergonomic reliability plays a significant role in the safe operation of devices.With the spread of infectious diseases around the world,in work environments with high loads and high infection rates,medical staff work in a state of high self-protection.The use of visual display terminal(VDT)for medical equipment has undergone fundamental changes,and the traditional medical equipment human-machine interface design needs to be improved.After the completion of design and development,a VDT design enters the experimental testing stage,which has significant limitations for simulating the work of medical staff in the high-load and high-infection environments.The testing cost is high,and subjects face harsh conditions;thus,an ergonomic reliability model that can predict the use of VDT in such special high-infection and high-load circumstances must be established.An ergonomic reliability model based on an improved backpropagation neural network(BPNN)and human cognition reliability(HCR)is proposed for predicting and evaluating operation flows according tomedical equipment VDTs.Firstly,a small data sample can be used to train BPNN to generate a network that can ensure suitable accuracy.To prevent the model from falling into local optimal solutions,the bat algorithm is introduced to improve the BPNN.Compared to a traditional BPNN,the superiority of the improved BPNN is clearly demonstrated.Secondly,the HCR method is used to analyze and highlight changes in the human factor reliability of VDTs for medical equipment in different time processes and operating processes according to BPNN prediction results,to provide a reference for selecting the optimalmethod.Finally,the validity and availability of the proposedmethod are verified through an eye tracker experiment and statistical analysis results.

An Ergonomics Study and Rapid Upper Limb Assessments(RULA)for a Car Interior to Support Limb Disabled Drivers

The demanding market shows that the need for the disabled vehicles have been increasing over the recent years.However,these factory setting cars are pricey,and its buy-sell process is time-consuming.These cars also are not meant as a universal design or inclusion design type of car,so that when it is designed for the disabled,it can be beneficial for all.With the motivation to include limbs disabled drivers in designing a universally designed car,this study aims to determine the preferred ergonomics interior of the car which can improve features needed to meet the mobility of impaired individuals in most scenarios.5 simulations were carried out to simulate these conditions using the RULA analysis,in order to simulate the ergonomics impact on the manikin.In the final analysis,the simulations showed a virtuous score,which was between 1 and 2 for the newly redesigned interior,compared to the score of 3 to 6 for current cars.Another verification made,post questionnaire delineates positive responses upon the redesigned parts scoring 70%~90% level of ergonomics rated.Therefore,this research has set forth the necessity of redesigning a car interior and improved its ergonomic features extensively,specifically for lower limb and combined limb disabled drivers.

The Human-Machine Safety Design of Mechanical Toys for Children

In order to ensure the safety of children while using machineries and avoid harm caused by mechanical toys,this paper analyzes the types and detection standards of children’s toys,discusses the reasons for the harm caused by these toys,and proposes human-machine safety design strategies for children’s toys as reference.