A team of researchers from the Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE in Ecuador has developed a novel wearable system that could have significant implications for the energy industry, particularly in the realm of workplace safety and ergonomics. The team, led by Marie Jose Perez Peralta and including Daniela Flores Casillas, Benjamin Wilson, Cristian Aviles Medina, Yira Itzae Rendon Hernandez, and Vladimir Orrante Bracho, has created a wireless, wearable device that combines surface electromyography (sEMG) and inertial measurement units (IMUs) to analyze muscle activation and joint kinematics during physical tasks.
The system is designed to monitor muscle activity and joint movement in real-time, using a combination of sEMG sensors and IMUs. The sEMG sensors record electrical activity from the vastus lateralis and semitendinosus muscles of the dominant leg, while the IMUs estimate knee joint angle, angular velocity, and angular acceleration. This data is then transmitted wirelessly to a PC, where a custom graphical user interface (GUI) displays the information in real-time and exports a summary of each session to Excel.
The researchers tested the system on a single healthy adult performing free bodyweight squats. The results demonstrated the feasibility of using low-cost, portable EMG-IMU instrumentation for integrated analysis of muscle activation and squat kinematics. The system is battery-powered, reducing electrical risk during human use, and is compact, measuring just 10 cm x 12 cm.
For the energy industry, this technology could be used to monitor workers performing physically demanding tasks, such as lifting heavy equipment or operating machinery. By analyzing muscle activation and joint kinematics in real-time, employers could identify potential ergonomic issues and intervene before injuries occur. This could lead to a reduction in workplace injuries and associated costs, as well as improved worker productivity and satisfaction.
The research was published in the journal Sensors, a peer-reviewed open access journal. The study represents an important step forward in the development of wearable technology for workplace safety and ergonomics, and could have significant implications for the energy industry and other sectors where physical labor is a major component of the job.
This article is based on research available at arXiv.