Minimal Inertial Sensor Placement for Work Recognition and Working Posture Assessment

Saori Miyajima, Yuki Hashimoto, Takayuki Tanaka, Natsuki Miyata, Mitsunori Tada, Masaaki Mochimaru

Abstract: The heavy physical burden of nursing care causes low back pain and makes it difficult for care workers to continue their work. To reduce this burden, the workload should be investigated to improve the care work. Measured motions can be used to estimate the workload. Considering using in various work environment, inertial sensors are suitable for on-site motion measurement. When motions are measured in the workplace, it is desirable to reduce the number of measuring devices. In this report, we selected the minimum number of body parts that need to have their motion measured for work recognition and working posture assessment in three participants. For recognizing six work element, three or four positions were selected and the recognition rate was larger than 0.8. The effect of differences in work motion on classification was also investigated.