Abstract
Heavy equipment operation is a responsible and difficult task causing mental workload on a human operator and exposing the operator to a range of harmful factors. Human factors and ergonomics in heavy equipment design have traditionally been focused on anthropometry and questionnaires. More advanced techniques involving biosignal measurements were not applied to heavy equipment, mainly due to the diversity of real working conditions that were hard to reproduce in a laboratory environment and that prevented ambulatory studies. Recent advances in wearable biosensors and real-time simulators produce the capability of using biosignals for improving the ergonomics of heavy equipment operation. The present paper reviews the use of biosignals in human factors and the ergonomics of heavy machines by focusing on stress detection for the last ten years. The aim of the paper is analyzing the previous implemented algorithms to find a set of biosignals and methods of stress identification that could be suitable for identifying stress in heavy equipment operators both in laboratory and ambulatory studies. The conclusion emphasizes successful stress identification methods and a combination of the algorithms from different studies that facilitate the use of heavy equipment operator's applications. Also, feasible methods and directions for future research are considered.
Highlights
Heavy equipment is utilized in construction, mining, and agriculture is a powerful but dangerous tool
Extending traditionally used anthropometry and questionnaires with biosignal measurements is a modern approach in ergonomics that is widely used in aviation [1], intelligent cars [2], manufacturing [3], and marketing [4]
The results showed that GSR and Heart Rate Variation (HRV) were strongly related to stress, and EMG did not contain enough stress information
Summary
Heavy equipment is utilized in construction, mining, and agriculture is a powerful but dangerous tool. It can negatively affect an operator, exposing him to a high level of whole-body vibrations, durable static postures, noise, sunlight, dust, and a wide range of temperature. The operator working in harsh conditions must provide high productivity and safe operation since inefficiency and mistakes in operation can be expensive and dangerous. The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and approving it for publication was Wentao Fan. The above-mentioned items lead to the necessity of paying special attention to human factors and ergonomics at the design phase of heavy equipment and to monitoring of the operator state during his work. Extending traditionally used anthropometry and questionnaires with biosignal measurements is a modern approach in ergonomics that is widely used in aviation [1], intelligent cars [2], manufacturing [3], and marketing [4]
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