Analyse des Einflusses von Gestaltungsparametern von Werkerführungssystemen auf deren Nutzung, Gefallen und Wirtschaftlichkeit im Kontext Montage

Im folgenden Beitrag zur Doktorandenwerkstatt wird ein Ansatz zur Analyse von Gestaltungsparametern von Werkerführungssystemen im Kontext Montage vorgestellt. Werkerführungssysteme sollen als kognitive Assistenzsysteme Mitarbeiter unterstützen, indem sie relevante Informationen bereitstellen. Es wird eine Arbeitsdefinition für Werkerführungssysteme genannt und Gestaltungsansätze beschrieben. Diese, so wie weitere Aspekte des Arbeitssystems Montage, sollen in drei Studien exemplarisch variiert und die Auswirkungen auf Nutzen und Gefallen der Mitarbeiter, sowie wirtschaftliche Kennzahlen untersucht werden. Das zugrundeliegendes Arbeitsmodell, beispielhafte Hypothesen und die Methodik werden hierfür erläutert und ein Ausblick auf die kommenden Studien und das Studiendesign gegeben

Evaluation eines Assistenzsystems zur Messung von Belastung und Beanspruchung am Arbeitsplatz mittels ausgewählter Wearables

Der Wandel der Digitalisierung hat Einfluss auf die betriebliche Prävention. Digitale Assistenzsysteme bieten die Möglichkeit, bei der gesundherhaltenden Arbeitsprozessgestaltung zu unterstützen. Im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes wurde ein Prototyp zur Messung und Wiedergabe von Belastungen und Beanspruchungen entwickelt. Die notwendigen Daten werden mithilfe ausgewählter Wearables erhoben. Der vorliegende Beitrag erläutert das Vorgehen zur Entwicklung und Evaluation des Assistenzsystems. Mittels verschiedener Methoden wurde die Eignung der Wearables zur Aufzeichnung der Belastungs- und Beanspruchungsdaten untersucht sowie die Benutzeroberfläche des Assistenzsystems evaluiert. Anhand der Untersuchung wurden Potenziale und Schwachstellen des entwickelten Prototyps identifiziert

User‐centered development of a worker guidance system for a flexible production line

Worker guidance systems are digital assistance systems in production, which provide work‐related information and, thus, guide employees through production processes. This article describes the user‐centered development of such a worker guidance system for a flexible production line in a metrology company. Usage context analysis and requirements analysis illustrate the need for a simple and independent system that can be used voluntarily by employees. After two iterations of the human‐centered design process, an interactive software prototype was created and implemented on a tablet personal computer. In this prototype, all essential process and assembly information in the flexible production line is available to the employees in the form of text descriptions and pictures as step‐by‐step instructions, which can be selected via two‐step navigation. The final evaluation was conducted as a user study with N = 10 assembly workers in the flexible production line under realistic conditions and was also intended to find out at which level of detail the information should be displayed in the system. The system scored well on the system usability scale (between 65.8 and 70.8) and concerning acceptance. Using the worker guidance system, no assembly faults occurred during the user study. Due to the significantly shorter assembly time, but no further significant differences, it was decided to set up the less detailed assembly information as a standard in the system. However, employees can call up more detailed information, if necessary. This system will be used by the company in the future

The Effect of Pick-by-Light-Systems on Situation Awareness in Order Picking Activities

Pick-by-light systems are widespread in the industry, especially in order picking. Literature shows their potential to reduce picking-time and –errors as well as mental load. Using pick-by-light is also relevant for training processes since employees may tend to rely on these systems without consciously comprehending and processing the environment. Situation Awareness is a term referring to this fact and is analyzed in the study described in this article. The study took place in the learning factory “Center for industrial Production” at TU Darmstadt with N=31 subjects, who completed two order picking tasks: One of them assisted by pick-by-light and the other by pick-by-paper. SAGAT-based Situation Awareness showed no significant differences, whereas heart rate showed higher strain when using pick-by-light. NASA TLX showed a higher subjective strain using pick-by-paper

Wellbeing at Work — Emotional Impact on Workers Using a Worker Guidance System Designed for Positive User Experience

Wellbeing at work can be achieved through different strategies; designing for a positive user experience (UX) is one way. However, the relationship between wellbeing and professionally used technology is rather unexplored, especially in work areas that are far from desktop work such as worker guidance systems (WGSs) used in assembly processes. In this paper, we first described a qualitative evaluation (using the valence method) of a prototype WGS designed for a positive UX. The evaluation showed that it elicited far more positive than negative feelings. Based on the results, we improved and redesigned the prototype. We then implemented it in a realistic setting and quantitatively compared it with an established WGS. It was shown that the prototype elicited more positive feelings than the established system, whereas there were no differences in the number of negative markers. Thus, one can assume that the improvement of UX in the redesigned system was due to the positive UX design concepts. However, there were no significant differences in the mood questionnaires. The paper showed that positive experiences at work can be achieved when the design of professional technology is focused on a positive UX. Long-term studies should further investigate whether these experiences lead to a generally elevated mood

Revealing natural relationships among arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: culture line BEG47 represents Diversispora epigaea, not Glomus versiforme

Background: Understanding the mechanisms underlying biological phenomena, such as evolutionarily conservative trait inheritance, is predicated on knowledge of the natural relationships among organisms. However, despite their enormous ecological significance, many of the ubiquitous soil inhabiting and plant symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF, phylum Glomeromycota) are incorrectly classified. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we focused on a frequently used model AMF registered as culture BEG47. This fungus is a descendent of the ex-type culture-lineage of Glomus epigaeum, which in 1983 was synonymised with Glomus versiforme. It has since then been used as ‘G. versiforme BEG47’. We show by morphological comparisons, based on type material, collected 1860–61, of G. versiforme and on type material and living ex-type cultures of G. epigaeum, that these two AMF species cannot be conspecific, and by molecular phylogenetics that BEG47 is a member of the genus Diversispora. Conclusions: This study highlights that experimental works published during the last >25 years on an AMF named ‘G. versiforme’ or ‘BEG47’ refer to D. epigaea, a species that is actually evolutionarily separated by hundreds of millions of years from all members of the genera in the Glomerales and thus from most other commonly used AMF ‘laboratory strains’. Detailed redescriptions substantiate the renaming of G. epigaeum (BEG47) as D. epigaea, positioning it systematically in the order Diversisporales, thus enabling an evolutionary understanding of genetical, physiological, and ecological traits, relative to those of other AMF. Diversispora epigaea is widely cultured as a laboratory strain of AMF, whereas G. versiforme appears not to have been cultured nor found in the field since its original description

NOD2, RIP2 and IRF5 Play a Critical Role in the Type I Interferon Response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

While the recognition of microbial infection often occurs at the cell surface via Toll-like receptors, the cytosol of the cell is also under surveillance for microbial products that breach the cell membrane. An important outcome of cytosolic recognition is the induction of IFNα and IFNβ, which are critical mediators of immunity against both bacteria and viruses. Like many intracellular pathogens, a significant fraction of the transcriptional response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection depends on these type I interferons, but the recognition pathways responsible remain elusive. In this work, we demonstrate that intraphagosomal M. tuberculosis stimulates the cytosolic Nod2 pathway that responds to bacterial peptidoglycan, and this event requires membrane damage that is actively inflicted by the bacterium. Unexpectedly, this recognition triggers the expression of type I interferons in a Tbk1- and Irf5-dependent manner. This response is only partially impaired by the loss of Irf3 and therefore, differs fundamentally from those stimulated by bacterial DNA, which depend entirely on this transcription factor. This difference appears to result from the unusual peptidoglycan produced by mycobacteria, which we show is a uniquely potent agonist of the Nod2/Rip2/Irf5 pathway. Thus, the Nod2 system is specialized to recognize bacteria that actively perturb host membranes and is remarkably sensitive to mycobacteria, perhaps reflecting the strong evolutionary pressure exerted by these pathogens on the mammalian immune system