Backpack Design Research Articles

Hiking Backpack Design Development with Integrated Splint Feature for Fracture Injuries

The background of this design is the risk of fracture injury to climbers when mountaineering. According to the International Alpine Trauma Registry (IATR), there were 306 mountaineering accidents resulting in fractures in 2019. First aid for fractures requires standardized equipment and methods to assist the rescue process. The problem studied is the difficulty of climbers in utilizing climbing equipment as splints when treating fracture victims on the mountain. The purpose of this design is to develop climbing equipment so that it can be converted into a means of bandaging to perform first aid for fracture injuries. The design method used is Quality Function Deployment (QFD), to determine the priority aspects related to the specifications of the means of massaging that users want. The result of the design is a backpack product with an internal frame that applies a collapsible mechanism so that it can be quickly accessed in an emergency and can be adjusted according to the dimensions of the body part that has a fracture injury. The developed splint design successfully meets the criteria for dimensional customization to the user's body and can immobilize the fracture according to standard first aid procedures.

Innovative Ergonomic Support Belt Design to Mitigate Musculoskeletal Issues in School Backpack Users: An Investigation among Jaipur's Students

Heavy school backpacks contribute to physical strain and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among school-going children. Although it is recommended that a child's backpack be at most 10% of their body weight, maintaining this ratio is challenging, particularly in India, where education systems have introduced weight increments in school backpacks. This study investigates the potential of an ergonomically designed support belt for school backpacks in reducing stress on students' shoulders and backs. The research discusses developing and testing a novel ergonomic belt prototype to enhance backpack support for students. Hundred healthy school children aged 12 to 16 participated in an experiment that compared the newly designed belt system with commercially available backpacks without support belts. The study evaluated the impact of backpack type (support belt vs. commercial backpack) and load levels as a percentage of body weight, with test loads ranging from 10 to 30% of the total backpack weight. Participants' feedback, bag comfort scale, and MSD surveys were analyzed to assess the belt system's effectiveness. According to subjective responses, the ergonomic support belt performed well at load levels of 15 to 20% of body weight. A 10% increase in carrying weight reduced erector spinal muscle activity and increased abdominal oblique muscle activity. The innovative backpack design incorporated side pockets connected by upper and lower straps, effectively distributing weight around the body and preventing excessive pressure on specific areas.

Changing the horizontal position of a fixed backpack load: The effect on postural stability in young adults.

Modifying the horizontal position of the load in a backpack will change the size of the external torque it creates on the wearer but the effect on postural stability is unclear. To determine if changing the horizontal position of a fixed backpack load affects postural stability in young adults. A backpack was attached to a steel frame with a bar protruding posteriorly. A fixed load (5% body mass) was placed at three distances along the bar - 0 m, 0.20 m, and 0.40 m. Centre of pressure (CoP) derived measurements were recorded from a force platform sampling at 100 Hz. For each condition participants performed three 90s narrow stance trials with their eyes closed whilst standing on a firm surface. A comparison was made across unloaded (no backpack) and loaded conditions. There was an immediate decrease in postural stability when a loaded backpack was worn. Only two of the CoP derived measures (Total Excursion - TEx, and Mean Velocity Total Excursion - MVel TEx) differed between the loaded at 0.20 m and loaded at 0 m conditions. All CoP derived measures differed between the loaded at 0.40 m and loaded at 0 m conditions. Furthermore, three of the CoP derived measures (Anterior/Posterior Root Mean Square - A/P RMSq, TEx, and MVel TEx) differed between the loaded at 0.40 m and loaded at 0.20 m conditions. The distribution of a load within a backpack must be carefully considered. The findings for the 0.40 m condition are important for the use and design of large backpacks used by multi-day hikers, travellers, and the military.

A heterogeneous fuzzy collaborative intelligence approach: Air quality monitor selection study

Smart backpacks with novel functions have an enormous potential market. Therefore, the ability to embed smart functions (e.g., air quality detection) into a backpack design is critical. This study aimed to select an air quality monitor suitable for the design of a smart backpack. Accordingly, a heterogeneous fuzzy collaborative intelligence approach is proposed. In the proposed methodology, experts apply heterogeneous methods to derive the fuzzy priorities of the criteria and evaluate the suitability of an air quality monitor. The evaluation results by all experts are aggregated using fuzzy-weighted intersection (FWI). After defuzzification, the top-performing air quality monitor is chosen. Based on the experimental results, the most critical features of an air quality monitor are price and size. Furthermore, not all air quality monitors are suitable for a smart backpack design. Among the compared air quality monitors, OO-KFR-PMA was the optimal choice. The contribution of this research is twofold. First, experts are enabled to apply heterogeneous fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methods. Second, the unequal authority levels of experts are considered by aggregating their evaluation results using FWI.

TERUMBU KARANG SEBAGAI MOTIF HIAS PADA DESAIN TAS RANSEL

Sadranan Beach is one of the beaches in the Special Region of Yogyakarta precisely in Gunung Kidul Regency. Sadranan Beach is famous for its rich coral reefs on its coastline. The beauty of the coral reefs found in Sadranan Beach is not found on other beaches because of the beauty of the coral reefs. However, many fishermen deliberately hunt coral reefs and are used as raw materials for buildings, ornaments, and retrieval of coral animals that use gathul which results in damage to coral reefs. Based on the above events the author is interested in creating a backpack design work with the use of coral reefs as ornamental motifs. The design of the backpack in the Final Task includes four stages of the process of designing and manufacturing a product as well as three stages and six steps of workmanship. The four stages are the feasibility study stage of the design project, the process stage of analysis of aspects of design and design concept, the stage of the process of drafting and making a plan, and the manufacturing process stage. The three stages and six steps of the work, namely the exploration stage, the planning stage and the embodiment stage. The process and results of the design work of this Final Task has three achievements, the first is to be able to design decorative motif designs from coral reefs. The second achievement is being able to design a backpack with ornamental coral reef motifs. The third achievement is to be able to realize the prototype of a backpack with ornamental motifs of coral reefs. The result of this backpack design work is in the form of 4 (four) backpack designs and two (two) prototype backpacks with coral reef decorative motifs. In 4 (four) designs it has the names montipora, acropora, acropoda, and sidesratra.

Effects of different hydration supports on stride kinematics, comfort, and impact accelerations during running

BackgroundDifferent supports for hydration can influence total body mass and affect running biomechanics. Research questionDo different hydration supports affect the perceived exertion and comfort, stride kinematics, and impact accelerations during running? MethodsThis was a crossover study design. Thirteen trail runners completed a treadmill running test divided into four different durations and randomized hydration supports conditions, lasting 8 min each at moderate intensity: A) waist bag (0.84 kg); B) medium load backpack (0.84 kg); C) full load backpack (3.40 kg); and D) a control condition without water support. Impact accelerations were measured for 30 s in 4, 6, and 8 min. The rate of perceived exertion and heart rate were registered on minutes 4 and 8. At the last minute of each condition, comfort perception was registered Results and significanceNo condition affected the stride kinematics. Full load backpack condition reduced head acceleration peak (−0.21 g; p = 0.04; ES=0.4) and head acceleration magnitude (−0.23 g; p = 0.03; ES=0.4), and increased shock attenuation (3.08 g; p = 0.04; ES=0.3). It also elicited higher perceived exertion (p < 0.05; ES>0.8) being considered heavier (p < 0.01; ES > 1.1). The waist bag condition was more comfortable in terms of noise (p = 0.006; ES=1.3) and humidity/heat (p = 0.001; ES=0.8). The waist bag was the most comfortable support. On the other hand, the full backpack elicited lower comfort and was the only generating compensatory adjustments. These results may help to improve design of full load backpack aiming at comfort for runners.

Dynamic interaction of energy-harvesting backpack and the human body to improve walking comfort

Vibration energy harvesting from backpacks has the potential to generate electrical power while leading to no significant user metabolic cost increase. Many researchers have invented different energy-harvesting backpacks, but the dynamics between the human body and the backpack have not been studied thoroughly in the literature. The goal of this paper is to investigate the dynamic interaction between the human body and the energy-harvesting backpacks to improve human comfort. The amplitude and phase of the force transmitted from the backpack to the human body are characterized and the ground reaction forces (GRF) after wearing the backpack are studied in detail. It is found that tuning the backpack parameters can reduce the GRF in the push-off phase (when the muscle injects energy into the human body) and potentially improve human comfort. System performance is optimized based on energy harvesting and human walking comfort criteria. Three backpacks, i.e., fixed, SDOF, 2DOF-linear, and 2DOF-with-MMR backpacks are analyzed and compared. The tradeoff between energy-harvesting performance and human walking comfort is analyzed, and guidelines for energy-harvesting backpack design are summarized. The mechanical-motion-rectifier-based system can reduce the peak GRF in the push-off phase by 16% and is experimentally verified.

An Efficient Design of an Energy Harvesting Backpack for Remote Applications

During past couple of decades, energy harvesting from human body motion has been explored extensively to provide electricity needed for energizing cell phones and other gadgets. In this paper, an optimized design of a suspended-load backpack with a mechanical motion rectifier (MMR) is presented. The Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the system parameters for producing maximum output power with an 8-kg backpack, which is the lightest proposed in previous studies. A prototype of the backpack is fabricated based on the obtained optimal parameters, and experimental results for a normal walking speed show instant power of 11.57 Watts and average power of 4.37 Watts, which are one of the highest among all models in previous works. Finally, a modified dynamic model of the backpack is proposed based on an experimental model of the human shoulders displacement during walking to minimize the output power error between numerical simulation data and experimental test results.

Bistable energy harvesting backpack: Design, modeling, and experiments

Inspired by the dynamics of the noninertial systems, a novel bistable energy harvesting backpack is proposed that improves biomechanical energy harvesting performance. In contrast to traditional bistable energy harvesters that use an oblique compressed spring, a new bistable backpack is developed that uses the change of a spring torque direction located on a pinion. A detailed nondimensionalized model of the novel bistable energy harvesting backpack is developed and analyzed. Based on the dynamic bistable model, the influence of the carried backpack mass on the symmetry and the bifurcation frequency and amplitude of oscillation is examined to determine the ideal design parameters of the bistable backpack for experimental analysis and prototype manufacture. A comparison is made between the new bistable backpack and a traditional linear backpack under both harmonic and human walking excitation. The new bistable backpack design exhibits an improved frequency bandwidth from 1 Hz to 1.65 Hz at the base harmonic excitation of 2 m/s2 and the harvesting performance is enhanced from 2.34 W to 3.32 W when the walking speed is 5.6 km/h. The bench and treadmill tests verify the theoretical analysis and demonstrate the ability of the bistable energy harvesting backpack for broadband and performance enhancement.

The Effect of Backplate Design for Mountain Bike Backpacks on Thermoregulation Mechanisms

Using infrared thermography, we assess how a new backpack design for mountain bikers can contribute to their thermoregulation process and perceived comfort during a cycling activity in a controlled environment. We gathered qualitative and quantitative data of heat concentration areas on skin temperature and thermal comfort perception by comparing two types of backpacks: a conventional backpack and a novel backpack design. Our results show that a guaranteeing airflow due to distance between the user’s back and the backpack with a rigid backplate and an arc radius morphology improves heat dissipation and thermal comfort for mountain bikers.

Bioinspired Distributed Energy in Robotics and Enabling Technologies

On‐board sources of energy are critically needed for autonomous robots to work in unstructured environments for extended periods. Thus far, the power requirement of robots has been met through lead‐acid and Li‐ion batteries and energy harvesters. However, except for a few advances such as light weight, shape, and size, the batteries used in robotics have remained unchanged for several decades, even if the research advances in energy storage have led to devices with flexible form factors. Besides being slow at adopting new energy technologies, robotics also appears to have settled with the idea of centralized energy, as evident from the battery backpack designs of several humanoids. This is in contrast with the biological world, where energy sources are distributed all over the body. Although several attempts have been made to imitate the distributed tactile skin, the energy distribution has strangely not caught attention. With distributed energy, a robotic platform can benefit in terms of increased energy density, lesser design complexities, improved body dynamics, and operational reliability. By focusing on the distributed energy, this first comprehensive review presents the benefits of bioinspired distributed energy in robotics and various energy‐storage and energy‐harvesting technologies that are available or are tuned to attain the same.

Bio-inspirisan sistem za podršku leđima za rančeve

In this paper a solution-driven bionic approach applied in a process of product redesign with intention to improve its ergonomic properties is presented. The main goal was to reformulate and use the properties of a unique natural phenomenon in a specific design field. The skeletal structure of the seahorse, its load-bearing capacity with retained flexibility, was an inspiration to explore products where these properties could be applied for improving the functionality. The research process resulted with detecting a problem caused by poor product design - spine deformities of students caused by non-ergonomic school backpacks. This ignited the idea to use the analyzed biological properties for designing school backpacks with improved ergonomics. The final result was the design of school backpacks with an integrated mechanical system based on the biological skeletal structure of the seahorse which would help to achieve maximum comfort and support the healthy posture of students.

Comparing Built-in Power Banks for a Smart Backpack Design Using an Auto-Weighting Fuzzy-Weighted-Intersection FAHP Approach

Smart backpacks are a prevalent application of smart technologies, with functions such as motion recording, navigation, and energy harvesting and provision. Selecting a suitable built-in power bank is a critical task for a smart backpack design, which has rarely been investigated in the past. To fulfill this task, an auto-weighting fuzzy-weighted-intersection fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach is proposed in this study. When decision makers lack an overall consensus, the auto-weighting fuzzy-weighted-intersection FAHP approach specifies decision makers’ authority levels according to the consistency ratios of their judgments. In this way, the consensus among all decision makers can be sought. The auto-weighting fuzzy-weighted-intersection FAHP approach has been applied to compare six mobile power banks for a smart backpack design.

A backpack load sharing model to evaluate lumbar and hip joint contact forces during shoulder borne and hip belt assisted load carriage

Musculoskeletal injuries of the lumbar spine occur frequently among military service members and are associated with heavy backpack loads. Musculoskeletal modeling and simulation facilitate biomechanical evaluation to compare different backpack designs. We developed a backpack attachment model that can be tuned to represent various load distributions between the torso and pelvis. We generated walking simulations to estimate muscle and joint contact forces of unloaded walking and while carrying 38 kg using shoulder-borne backpacks and hip belt-assisted backpacks for six U.S. Marines. Three-dimensional peak and average lumbar (L4-L5) and hip joint contact forces over the stance phase were compared between each load condition. Axial L4-L5 and axial and anterior hip joint contact forces were greater during both backpack conditions compared to the unloaded condition. Joint contact forces were similar between backpack conditions. Future studies incorporating additional participants, walking conditions, and backpack load distributions are suggested for further model development and backpack design evaluation.

A Piecewise Linear FGM Approach for Efficient and Accurate FAHP Analysis: Smart Backpack Design as an Example

Most existing fuzzy AHP (FAHP) methods use triangular fuzzy numbers to approximate the fuzzy priorities of criteria, which is inaccurate. To obtain accurate fuzzy priorities, time-consuming alpha-cut operations are usually required. In order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of estimating the fuzzy priorities of criteria, the piecewise linear fuzzy geometric mean (PLFGM) approach is proposed in this study. The PLFGM method estimates the α cuts of fuzzy priorities and then connects these α cuts with straight lines. As a result, the estimated fuzzy priorities will have piecewise linear membership functions that resemble the real shapes. The PLFGM approach has been applied to the identification of critical features for a smart backpack design. According to the experimental results, the PLFGM approach improved the accuracy and efficiency of estimating the fuzzy priorities of these critical features by 33% and 80%, respectively.

Parental Awareness About School Backpack, Weight Carried by Their Children and related Musculoskeletal Problems

Introduction: Backpacks are a convenient means to carry essential educational materials for school children. Backpack design, carrying technique and its load is related to several health consequences i.e., altered gait, bad posture and musculoskeletal pain. Parental awareness and their supervision can help their children to carry appropriate school backpack with rationale weight. Therefore, this study aims to assess parental awareness about school backpacks; identify backpack weight carried by their children and identify children’s musculoskeletal complaints with their parents.&#x0D; Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. The study consisted of purposively selected 94 parents whose children were studying in grade VI to VIII at local school. Face to face interview of around 30 minutes duration was taken by using semi structured interview schedule. Backpack weight was identified by weighing children with and without bag in their school and subtracted to identify the actual backpack weight. Data was analysed by using SPSS version 20 and described by using descriptive statistics.&#x0D; Results: In this study, more than 90% parents were aware of the recommended weight of school backpack i.e., &lt;15% of body weight. About 96% parents answered that backpack should be light; similar percentage told that it should have well-padded shoulder straps and 87% answered that it should be appropriate to child’s age and weight. Around 70% to 90% parents were aware of appropriate handling of school backpacks. While identifying parental awareness about musculoskeletal effects of backpacks, they told as shoulder pain (79%), fatigue (76%) and neck pain (56%). In this study, 72% children were carrying backpacks greater than the recommended weights. Their parents told that children often had complaints of shoulder pain (78%) and neck pain (69%)&#x0D; Conclusions: Most parents were aware of the standards and handling of school backpack but in reality, more than two third of their children were carrying heavy school backpacks.

Development and Experimental Verification of an Ergonomic Backpack.

Carrying a heavy school backpack has extensively been reported as a prime cause of children's body strain. It is suggested that the load should not exceed 10 percent of the child's body weight; however, ensuring this requires continuous monitoring. The study explores how ergonomically designed school backpack based on the user anthropometric data (n = 280) and ergonomic parameters help reduce force concentration on shoulders and back. It provides a validation process of the developed prototype by experimental verification. The developed design was assessed in a comparison experiment with a commercially available local school backpack. An experimental study was used which recruited thirty healthy college students (aged 19 to 23 years). Two independent variables evaluated were school backpack type (developed backpack versus commercial one) and load levels as a percentage of body weight. Three load levels were employed 10%, 15%, and 20%. These variables were measured on the responses: bag comfort scale and the percent of maximum voluntary contraction (%MVC) of six muscles (right and left of erector spine, right and left of external abdominal oblique muscle, and right and left of trapezius). The developed backpack provided astonishing performance at levels of 15% and 20% of body weight in terms of subjective measure and electromyography (EMG) responses. It also showed that increasing the carried weight more than 10% result in reducing activity on the erector spinal muscles, while it increases on abdominal oblique muscles. The developed backpack design confirmed the efficiency of its bases by distributing the carried weight among the trunk through side pockets, attached to the body through two upper and lower straps. It helped the body to distribute the carried weight and avoid concentrating pressure on specific areas.

Biomechanical analysis on human gait and posture for development of floating backpack

Floating backpack system or also known as suspended-load backpack has been known as a new type of backpack which able to reduce the effect of impact force from the loads carried in the backpack while walking or running. Particularly on the application for military or rescue team, this new backpack design claimed to improve the comfort and reduce the burden on the skeletal muscle as well as the risk of injury. In this research, we try to assess the biomechanics performance of our novel floating backpack design on reducing the impact force on the wearer by firstly analyzing the human gait cycle and posture adjustment. This analysis conducted by motion analysis method which able to track the change of position of certain points while walking and running. We tracked several points on the volunteer’s lower extremity and analyze its kinematics information throughout the walk and running cycle with a different pace and velocity. From this data, we try to get the standard gait model as a mechanical input force for the floating backpack system. Furthermore, with this 3D analysis we can also analyze the posture adjustment as the balancing mechanism of human body to compensate the different forces from the different state of walking-running cycle. A sinusoidal pattern with a frequency of 2-3 Hz are measured on the transition phase of walking and running, while the maximum amplitude was varying on throughout each cycle phase

A multibelief analytic hierarchy process and nonlinear programming approach for diversifying product designs: Smart backpack design as an example

Owing to the cost constraint, it is difficult to incorporate all critical features into a single product design. To deal with this issue, analytic hierarchy process is a well-known method that compares the relative priorities of critical features. This study aims to illustrate that the judgment of a designer can be used to generate multiple diversified product designs. To this end, this study proposed a multibelief analytic hierarchy process and nonlinear programming approach. In the proposed methodology, a decision maker’s judgment matrix is decomposed into several single-belief judgment matrices that are more consistent than the original judgment matrix and represent diversified points of view regarding the relative priorities of factors. To this end, a nonlinear programming model is established and optimized. The proposed methodology was applied to a smart backpack design problem. It was concluded that a designer’s judgment was often inconsistent, which was ignored in the conventional analytic hierarchy process method but could be employed to diversify product designs.

A comparison of economy between two different backpack designs for runners

We compared two backpack designs (back/front or back only) in twelve recreational runners (age 22.0 ± 1.7years). An initial incremental exercise test (VO2max 52.2 ± 4.7 ml kg−1.min−1) was conducted, followed by four tests of 20 min duration (running speed 9.8 ± 1.1 km/h) with loads carried of 0, 1 kg, 3 kg, and 6 kg with the two backpack designs in a randomized order. Economy was assessed by energy cost of running (CR), oxygen cost (O2 cost), heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE). Repeated measure ANOVA revealed a non-significant main effect for CR, O2 cost, HR, RPE between systems. Post-hoc comparison of significant time × position interaction showed for CR, F(3,33) = 5.34, p < .01, ηp2 = 0.33, and O2 cost, F(3,33) = 5.15, p < .01, ηp2 = 0.32, that carrying weight in the back/front were significantly lower after 20 min (CR: p = .02 and O2 cost: p = .03). These results suggest, that for longer runs the equal distribution of weight is advantageous.