Jonathan Holmes

Evaluation of the ShapeTape for studying biomechanics in the workplace

Motion capture systems may be difficult to use in harsh environments such as a poultry plant, and therefore should be self-contained, portable, unobtrusive, and not interfere with or be degraded by plant machinery or processes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity, reliability and accuracy of the ShapeTape system as a potential solution. This was accomplished by comparing kinematic data from the ShapeTape against the Vicon system. Subjects performed cyclical movements along a plane angled 45° up from the horizontal using their right arms. Results revealed that the ShapeTape kinematic data was significantly larger than the Vicon data, yet statistically reliable.

Design of a fresh meat packing robot for working in washdown environment

The benefits of robotics are evident in many industries. However, the food processing industry has not been able to realize this benefit due to the limitations imposed by the operating environment. The demanding environment in the handling of fresh meat products typically includes a daily wash with high pressure as well as highly corrosive cleaning agents. This paper described the development of a robot specifically built for handling fresh meat products in such environment. The selection of materials for washdown working conditions, as well as the unique coaxial shaft design, was specified. Based on the specific motion, the system kinematics and dynamics were formulated. The simulation results provided the optimal motions to minimize the centrifugal force on the meat (grasper). The dynamic model also yielded the speed and torque relationship, which helped to provide the criteria for motor selection and the verification of the applicability of the selected motors. A functional prototype has been built and is under evaluation.

An ultra wideband, 1–20 GHz balun in an electrically small conducting enclosure

Balanced antenna radiators require a balun feed circuit which provides equal power split and differential phase to each of the two radiator arms. As antenna radiator bandwidths have increased, balun circuits have increasingly wide bandwidth requirements. This paper presents an improved 1-20 GHz printed circuit balun, designed to operate in an electrically small conducting enclosure whose largest dimension is only 10.6% of a wavelength at the lowest frequency. The paper includes a brief presentation of the improved design, details of the prototype hardware, and a comparison between the numerical simulations and measured prototype performance.

Layout Design of a Wii™ Remote Motion Capture System: Formulation and Solution

In this paper, a method is proposed to design intelligent systems with the fundamental function of facilitating information flow from the environment and its subsequent integration. We use the Pahl and Beitz systematic design method to tease out the salient requirements for the design of a motion capture system for ergonomic worker safety and training. The current devices employed for this purpose have drawbacks in the form of a need for a controlled environment and a high cost of implementation. A systematic consideration of the requirements for the intended application and ongoing efforts in the Georgia Tech Research Institute led us to consider the platform of the Nintendo Wii™ remote. The system is designed to be inexpensive and usable in any environment with minimum intrusion to the subject. Our example system is based on the custom requirements for a manufacturing environment where workers are at a high risk for repetitive stress injuries. We select appropriate physiological measures and capture the associated data using our designed system. We utilize our adapted method by describing the conceptual design and selection of a novel approach to the mounting of the Nintendo Wii Remote™. In the embodiment design phase, we describe how we determine key parameters for the layout design of the system. The decisions made in the process are verified by the generation of a prototype system that was tested on human subjects.Copyright