Development of a low cost wearable prevention system for MSDs using IMU systems and electrically conductive materials via additive manufacturiing.
Authors: 
Keywords: 
Work-related musculoskeletal disorders.
Ergonomic measurements assessment.
Inertial measurement units.
Dual Material Print.
Arduino.
Issue Date: 
Jun-2020
Defense Date: 
29-May-2020
Publisher: 
Servicio de Publicaciones. Universidad de Navarra
Citation: 
CAO, Chuan "Development of a low cost wearable prevention system for MSDs using IMU systems and electrically conductive materials via additive manufacturiing." Rodriguez, M.I. y Cazón, A. Tesis doctoral. Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, 2020
Abstract
Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are chronic occupational injuries that are common in lean production due to excessive work or repetition. They are considered to be the main cause of disability and absenteeism, reduced production and increased costs. A large number of studies have shown that most of the discomforts are located in the upper body area, but few studies have focused on assessing the degree of exposure in the hand area. The main objective of this thesis is to develop a low-cost wearable device in order to prevent and assess the potential exposure risks of MSDs in the hand. To that end, this thesis includes an evaluation of ergonomic assessment methods, a prototype development of a low-cost wearable, and experimental research in order to implement functional additive manufactured materials to that prototype. In the evaluation study, seven ergonomic assessing measurements were selected for comparison and analysis through an optimised questionnaire and expert interview. It has been concluded that the Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) method is currently the most suitable measurement technology for hand MSDs risk assessment. For the prototype development, Arduino-based hardware modules were selected, and a functional prototype for tracking index finger and thumb movements in real-time is built with the quaternion-based core algorithm. Finally, a prototype of the wearable is developed using electrically conductive materials deposited via Additive manufacturing. Several conductive filaments are tested, and an optimised method is employed to avoid cross-contamination effects.
Los trastornos musculo esqueléticos son lesiones crónicas comunes en las líneas de producción debido a movimientos repetitivos. Se consideran como la principal causa de absentismo por bajas, reducción de la producción y aumento de costes. Un gran número de estudios ha mostrado que la mayor parte de las molestias están localizadas en las extremidades superiores, pero pocos estudios se han centrado en la evaluación del grado de exposición de la mano a estas lesiones. El principal objetivo de esta tesis es desarrollar un wearable de bajo-coste para prevenir y evaluar los riesgos de exposición potenciales a estas lesiones musculoesqueléticas en la mano. A tal fin, esta tesis incluye una evaluación de los métodos de valoración ergonómica, el desarrollo de un prototipo de wearable de bajo-coste y una investigación experimental para implementar materiales funcionales en el prototipo mediante Fabricación Aditiva. En la parte de evaluación, se seleccionaron siete metodologías ergonómicas para compararlas mediante un cuestionario y entrevistas con expertos. Se concluyó que los sistemas inerciales (IMU) son la tecnología más adecuada para evaluar las lesiones musculo esqueléticas en la mano. Para el desarrollo, se seleccionaron elementos de hardware basados en Arduino para desarrollar un prototipo que capturaba el movimiento de los dedos índice y pulgar usando el sistema de cuaterniones. Finalmente, se fabricó un prototipo que incorporaba un material conductor eléctrico depositado mediante Fabricación Aditiva para conectar el hardware. Varios filamentos conductores fueron probados previamente, y se desarrolló una metodología optimizada para evitar los efectos de la contaminación cruzada.

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