A Preliminary Study on Ergonomic Contribution to the Engineering Design Approach of a Wheel Loader Control Lever System

Studies show that heavy machinery operators are exposed to risk factors of musculoskeletal diseases. However, there has yet to be a study investigating the grip analysis of heavy machinery control levers. This preliminary study aims to investigate the grip analysis of a system that emulates the push–pull operations, handle shapes, and resistance of wheel loader control lever systems. The system was designed, analysed, and optimised using Autodesk Inventor 2019 before fabrication and testing. It underwent usability testing for estimated and perceived grip force analysis (ergonomics analysis). The tests measured estimated force using a sensor glove, and perceived force using the Borg CR10 scale. The data were analysed using regression and paired t-tests. The findings suggested that pulling and high resistance factors required higher estimated force (339.50 N) and perceived force (5.625) than pushing and low resistance factors in manoeuvring the system (p < 0.05). The cylindrical handle required more estimated force (339.50 N) but less perceived force (4.5) than the spherical handle due to ergonomic design considerations (p < 0.05). Although there were inaccuracies in force measurement methods, the perceived method was still effective for data collection, since it is challenging to measure grip force in a real situation with heavy machinery. While this study was only a simulation, it provided researchers with ideas that may solve problems in the manipulation of heavy machinery control levers.

A novel throughput control algorithm for semi-heterarchical industry 4.0 architecture

Modern market scenarios are imposing a radical change in the production concept, driving companies’ attention to customer satisfaction through increased product customization and quick response strategies to maintain competitiveness. At the same time, the growing development of Industry 4.0 technologies made possible the creation of new manufacturing paradigms in which an increased level of autonomy is one of the key concepts to consider. Taking the advantage from the recent development around the semi-heterarchical architecture, this work proposes a first model for the throughput control of a production system managed by such an architecture. A cascade control algorithm is proposed considering work-in-progress (WIP) as the primary control lever for achieving a specific throughput target. It is composed of an optimal control law based on an analytical model of the considered production system, and of a secondary proportional-integral-derivative controller capable of performing an additional control action that addresses the error raised by the theoretical model’s. The proposed throughput control algorithm has been tested in different simulated scenarios, and the results showed that the combination of the control actions made it possible to have continuous adjustment of the WIP of the controlled production system, maintaining it at the minimum value required to achieve the requested throughput with nearly zero errors.

Studies on Operational Frequencies of Controls on Self-propelled Combine Harvesters in India

A study was conducted to measure the operational frequencies of various controls on self-propelled combine harvesters and to categorize them into frequently and infrequently operated controls. The operational frequency of controls on 10 combine harvesters of different makes and models were measured during harvesting of wheat crop. The frequency of use of frequently operated controls viz. header assembly control lever, ground speed control lever, gear shift lever, brake pedal, and clutch pedal ranged 232-484, 43-170, 41- 135, 42-140, and 66-162 action.h-1, respectively. The percent time distributions of operation of controls were 44.84, 13.40, 12.21, 13.10, and 16.42%, respectively. The controls on the combine harvesters used repetitively that require high level of human effort. Therefore, to accommodate 90% of user population, the most frequently operated controls should preferably be placed in the optimum reach zone, and infrequently used controls can be conveniently placed within maximum reach zone of operators’ reach envelope.

An Interactive Haptic Guidance System for Intuitive Programming CNC Machine Tool

The human-machine interfaces in modern CNC machine tools are not very intuitive and still based on archaic input systems, i.e., switches, handwheels, and buttons. This type of solution has two major drawbacks. The pushed button activates the movement only in one direction and is insensitive to the amount of the force exerted by the operator, which makes it difficult to move the machine axes at variable speeds. The paper proposes a novel and intuitive system of manual programming of a CNC machine tool based on a control lever with strain-gauge sensors. The presented idea of manual programming is aimed at eliminating the need to create a machining program and at making it possible to move the machine intuitively, eliminating mistakes in selecting directions and speeds. The article describes the concept of the system and the principle of operation of the control levers with force sensors. The final part of the work presents the experimental validation of the proposed system and a functionality comparison with the traditional CNC control.

BYOD Policies as a Negotiable Control Lever . . . or Not

Enterprise consumerization describes how technologies purchased by “enterprises” (i.e., organizations or companies) became consumer products. Mobile devices fall into this category because, as they became more affordable, individuals purchased them and brought them to work. As this trend proliferated, organizations had to protect their proprietary data, but their employees were clamoring for access to Wi-Fi. Their response: create bring-your-own-device-to-work (BYOD) policies. This chapter discusses human resources and global challenges surrounding BYOD policies. There are labor-law concerns at play, as well as national declarations that restrict mobile-device use outside of work hours. Furthermore, there’s still ongoing debate concerning who should be “allowed” to participate in BYOD. Readers are invited to consider that these policies have introduced a form of free control: individuals have flexibility in choosing their devices, but that freedom is also how people voluntarily participate in being controlled by organizations.