A real-time ergonomic monitoring system using the Microsoft Kinect

Laborers in factories all across the world perform physically intensive tasks daily. With every lift they put themselves at risk of injury. Many still-frame modeling systems exist that can assess the different stresses and strains on the laborers body given his or her position. These models are only usable by experts, and do not allow for real-time alerts. In 1995, companies in the United States lost $50 billion due to injured employee absences and compensation settlements. Companies are not only eager to reduce their overhead costs, but also aim to better society by offering more robust worker safety practices. The focus of this project was to design a system that can be used in a training environment. Our system is used to teach employees if their current lifting and carrying methods can be detrimental to their health. Our system is designed to be used for longstanding employees as well as new hires. This project's primary requirement was to implement a motion sensing device to aid in the analysis of ergonomics in an industrial environment. To do this we proposed to make use of Microsoft Kinect© sensors. The Kinect© is able to provide skeletal tracking at 30 frames/second for two individuals in the field of view. To develop the system we selected the Microsoft software development kit (SDK) from a large variety of alternative professional and open source SDKs because of a variety of desirable features. A static ergonomic model was integrated with the Kinect© software. Multiple other software packages were assessed for compatibility with the Kinect© in an effort to enhance the Kinects'O ability to recognize objects and humans. After development was complete the system was tested by analyzing our system's output using different skeletal lift positions to compare to the real results. Our system provides real-time ergonomic analysis of lifts performed by humans. This system lacks the ability to recognize specific individuals and objects necessary to customize the system to adequately evaluate a lift, and has not been tested in a factory environment. In the future we hope to implement a dynamic ergonomic model so that it can recognize whole movements or gestures which lead to injury, rather than recognizing a single position. Our system successfully outputs a number for the recommended weight limit as well as other methods to measure the strain on a worker's skeleton. In a training environment the system will help individuals correct the problems with their lifting motions.