Development and Application of a Hand Force Measurement System

Details

• Personal Author:
  Han J ; Kong, Yong-Ku ; Lowe, Brian D.
• Description:
  This presentation describes a system that has been developed by our group for the measurement of hand contact force. The system incorporates 16 to 20 thin profile conductive polymer pressure sensitive resistors attached to a thin athletic grip glove to cover the pulpar regions of the phalangeal segments and palm that contact the grasped object. The electrical responses of these sensors have been found to be linear when calibrated against applied force distributed over the sensor surface area. We have constructed a custom power supply and amplifier module to provide excitation and an adjustable gain to scale all sensor outputs for compatibility with a +/-5V analog to digital data acquisition board. Through linear regression the voltage output of each sensor is calibrated against the applied thumb force measured on the load cell. Linearity between applied force and voltage output of the sensor is high, typically in the range of 0.986 < r2 < 0.995. The studies to date using this system have illustrated quantitatively the digit-specific contributions as well as the phalangeal segment-specific contributions of the fingers to the total hand force in the power grip of tool handles of various sizes and shapes. This paper also presents examples of patterns of hand contact force distribution associated with other common grip and pinch configurations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Electricity Ergonomics Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Hand Tools Electrical Properties Extremities Force Gloves Grip Force Measurement Hand Ergonomics Measurement Equipment Pressure Testing Sensors Tools

  More +
• ISBN:
  9780080450551
• Publisher:
  International Ergonomics Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050341
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the 16th World Congress on Ergonomics (IEA2006), July 10-14, 2006, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Pikaar RN, Koningsveld EAP, Settels PJM, eds. Madison, WI: International Ergonomics Association, 2006 Jul; :1-6
• Editor(s):
  Pikaar RN; Koningsveld EAP; Settels PJM
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the 16th World Congress on Ergonomics (IEA2006), July 10-14, 2006, Maastricht, The Netherlands
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f3a58bc17805ea42cab513c8b8e045cc5b59197d091bc8a39b84eac3986028602b79fc16b9e172fb005993275a6b816216f9147a7ebc583a01a525f66b840b49
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/210725/cdc_210725_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 271.71 KB ]