Accuracy and repeatability of an inertial measurement unit system for field-based occupational studies

Abstract

The accuracy and repeatability of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) system for directly measuring trunk angular displacement and upper arm elevation were evaluated over eight hours (i) in comparison to a gold standard, optical motion capture (OMC) system in a laboratory setting, and (ii) during a field-based assessment of dairy parlour work. Sample-to-sample root mean square differences between the IMU and OMC system ranged from 4.1° to 6.6° for the trunk and 7.2°–12.1° for the upper arm depending on the processing method. Estimates of mean angular displacement and angular displacement variation (difference between the 90th and 10th percentiles of angular displacement) were observed to change <4.5° on average in the laboratory and <1.5° on average in the field per eight hours of data collection. Results suggest the IMU system may serve as an acceptable instrument for directly measuring trunk and upper arm postures in field-based occupational exposure assessment studies with long sampling durations.

Practitioner Summary: Few studies have evaluated inertial measurement unit (IMU) systems in the field or over long sampling durations. Results of this study indicate that the IMU system evaluated has reasonably good accuracy and repeatability for use in a field setting over a long sampling duration.

Keywords:

• Ergonomics tools and methods
• musculoskeletal disorders
• agriculture ergonomics
• back pain
• upper limb disorders

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [grant number 2U54OH008085-08], [grant number 5T42OH008491-08], [grant number 5U54OH007548-13A].