Paper Title
Insole System for Evaluation of Farm-Working Risk Level: Proper Input Variable
Abstract
The continuing increase in work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) of agricultural workers is a major problem. The observer methods commonly used in agriculture can be evaluated according to the quantitative criteria of posture and time(repetition) factors among the main risk factors of WMSDs. However, since it is difficult to directly measure the force factor, it is evaluated according to qualitative criteria or additional process using force measuring devices. These methods are not only subjective but also difficult to obtain consistent evaluation results, and there is a difficulty in agricultural work because there is no formalized action. To overcome these limitations, the purpose of this study is to propose an insole pressure sensor as a quantitative measurement tool and to select appropriate input variable related to the force factor. Five subjects were worn Insole pressure sensor and performed simulated agricultural tasks. The trained experts evaluated the risk for all tasks and used the Mutual Information Algorithm (MI) to determine the relationship between the evaluation results and the parameters derived from the insole pressure sensor. As a result, 19 variables with a high correlation with the force factor were selected, and the selected input variable can be used for the force risk factor automatic evaluation system.
Keywords - WMSDs, Force risk assessment, Insole pressure sensor, Mutual Information