Some NASA contributions to human factors engineering: A survey

This survey presents the NASA contributions to the state of the art of human factors engineering, and indicates that these contributions have a variety of applications to nonaerospace activities. Emphasis is placed on contributions relative to man's sensory, motor, decisionmaking, and cognitive behavior and on applications that advance human factors technology

High volume ergonomic simulation of chairs

To understand what makes a chair comfortable or practical we need to test a large number of chairs, both good and bad. Due to the numbers involved we cannot achieve this with physical testing. Instead we use simpli ed ergonomic simulations. The sim- ulations presented here produce pressure maps within the range given the literature, along with several other measures of comfort and practicality. This was done sub- stantially faster than examples in the literature, permitting collection of thousands of results

A Wirelessly Controlled Smart Bandage with 3D-Printed Miniaturized Needle Arrays

PUBLIC ACCES

Investigation into the applicability of a passive upper-limb exoskeleton in automotive industry

The fourth industrial revolution faces the technological challenge of human-robot cooperation in manufacturing process. Aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and user’s acceptance of a passive exoskeleton for upper limbs. Three different tests, involving static and dynamic tasks, were performed by 29 automotive operators without and with the exoskeleton. Main aspects and results of the testing campaign are presented in the paper. Potential issues associated to the introduction of these auxiliary devices in the automotive industry are briefly addressed, together with the open questions on how to assess the biomechanical workload risk, especially in the design phase

Increased production capabilities by job rotation through simulation.

Implementing Job Rotation as a manufacturing method is beneficial to production efficiency, reduction of labor cost, operator satisfaction, and Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) reduction. In this thesis, the steps of simulating the change from a single station operator work center to a job rotational work center in an automotive components production facility are investigated, analyzed and performed. The objective is to show how the use of rotational manufacturing positively impacts the working environment by operators sharing the workload, but also that production is not negatively impacted and can thrive when implemented correctly. The production facility provided a real-world application of the change of manufacturing method and allowed for research and data collection of both non-rotational and rotational work centers producing similar components. The facility also provided historical information of medically documented WMSDs inside the facility and allowed for determination of which manufacturing method was related to the WMSDs. Through analysis of the operations by observations, research, and previously documented time studies the case was developed to present the benefits along with the drawbacks of converting a non-rotational work center to a rotational work center. The detailed savings of the manufacturing method change are highlighted throughout the document. The time between documented WMSDs with workforces utilizing job rotation occur at a rate of 84.00 shifts of operation. The non rotation work center is averaging a reported WMSD every 11.67 shifts. The switch of manufacturing methods from non-rotational to rotational would reduce the frequency of WMSD incidents by 620%. The efficiency of the associates in a rotational work center, evaluated by observations through time study is 100% when analyzing the documented standard time for the required operations through the course of a full shift. The operators of the non-rotational workforce are operating at an efficiency rate of 95% when reviewing all segments of time for their respective standard. When re-evaluating the operations simulating the change to a job rotation work center the efficiency increased 5% as compared to the same level of performance of the non-rotational work center. Hence, the changing of the method of one operator one job manufacturing environment with a rotational work method has significant benefits. In summary the benefits include no negative impact to production, developing associates with more skills, more operator knowledge, and developing a facility that has more built in flexibility when managing attendance, training, hiring, cost, labor, and production efficiency

Employment of artificial intelligence mechanisms for e-Health systems in order to obtain vital signs and detect diseases from medical images improving the processes of online consultations and diagnosis

Nowadays e-Health web applications allow doctors to access different types of features, such as knowing which medication the patient has consumed or performing online consultations. Internet systems for healthcare can be improved by using artificial intelligence mechanisms for the process of detecting diseases and obtaining biological data, allowing medical professionals to have important information that facilitates the diagnosis process and the choice of the correct treatment for each particular person. The proposed research work aims to present an innovative approach when compared to traditional platforms, by providing online vital signs in real time, access to a web stethoscope, to a medical image uploader that predicts if a certain disease is present, through deep learning methods, and also allows the visualization of all historical data of a patient. This dissertation has the objective of defending the concept of online consultations, providing complementary functionalities to the traditional methods for performing medical diagnoses through the use of software engineering practices. The process of obtaining vital signs was done via artificial intelligence using a computer camera as sensor. This methodology requires that the user is at a state of rest during the measurements. This investigation led to the conclusion that, in the future, many medical processes will most likely be done online, where this practice is considered extremely helpful for the analysis and treatment of contagious diseases, or cases that require constant monitoring.No quotidiano, as aplicações Web e-Saúde permitem aos médicos acesso a diferentes tipos de funcionalidades, como saber qual a medicação que o doente consumiu ou a realização de consultas online. Os sistemas via internet para a saúde podem ser melhorados, utilizando mecanismos de inteligência artificial para os processos de deteção de doenças e de obtenção de dados biológicos, permitindo que os médicos tenham informações importantes que facilitam o processo de diagnóstico ou a escolha do tratamento correto para um determinado utente. O trabalho de investigação proposto pretende apresentar uma abordagem inovadora na comparação com as plataformas tradicionais, ao disponibilizar sinais vitais online em tempo real, acesso a um estetoscópio web, a um uploader de imagens médicas que prevê se uma determinada doença está presente, através de métodos de aprendizagem profunda, bem como permite visualizar todos os dados históricos de um paciente. Esta dissertação visa defender o conceito de consultas virtuais, providenciando funcionalidades complementares aos processos tradicionais de realização de um diagnóstico médico, através da utilização de práticas de engenharia de software. O processo de obtenção de sinais vitais foi feito através de inteligência artificial para visão computacional utilizando uma câmara de computador. Esta metodologia requer que o utilizador esteja em estado de repouso durante a obtenção dos dados medidos. Esta investigação permitiu concluir que, no futuro, muitos processos médicos atuais provavelmente serão feitos online, sendo esta prática considerada extremamente útil na análise e tratamento de doenças contagiosas, ou de casos que requerem acompanhamento constante

Spring contact probes: wear characteristics testing for electrical and mechanical parameters

The study considers the development and evaluation of spring contact probes used for automated testing of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and assemblies. It considers the evolution of circuit technology which originated from the introduction of the thermionic valve at the beginning of the century. Since the introduction of the integrated circuit in the 1960's, the industry has seen considerable advances in integrated and printed circuit miniaturisation with its associated effect on the testability of the completed assembly. The close spacing between the tracks and pads within the printed circuit board, which is possibly loaded on both sides with integrated circuits and other components with fine pitch termination spacings, has initiated the rapid development of a specialised electronic test industry to ensure product quality. [Continues.