Ergonomic Glove Design by Using an Integrated Approach

Year 2023, Volume: 19 Issue: 2, 36 - 47, 30.12.2023

Burak Efe , Ömer Efe , Meryem Şehitoğlu

Abstract

Hand injuries in work accidents frequently occur in firm. The use of gloves as personal protective equipment is recommended by experts to reduce or prevent hand injuries. While these gloves increase the safety of employees against hand injuries, it is aimed not to have a negative impact on their performance. This study has determined 15 criteria for an ergonomic glove that will not decrease the performance of the employees, taking into consideration the literature research and expert opinions. The most suitable ergonomic glove was chosen among five alternative gloves by taking the opinions of three experts. This study aims to select the most suitable glove using the interval type-2 fuzzy (IT2F) number based TOPSIS approach. IT2F number is proposed to reduce the loss of information in expert opinions. Type-1 fuzzy number is shown with a single membership degree. IT2F number consists of two membership degrees unlike type-1 fuzzy number. The part between these two membership degrees expresses the expert opinion. The judgments of three experts were collected by employing the IT2F number and hand dexterity criterion was defined as the most significant criterion for an ergonomic glove. This paper also uses Bayesian network to analyze the customer satisfaction level based on four performance indicators. The biggest exchange for high customer satisfaction of alternative 1 is caused from finger root circumference between four performance indicators. This study ensures to the literature a new perspective by proposing multi-criteria decision making technique and Bayesian network to form an ergonomic glove.

Keywords

TOPSIS, bayesian network, ergonomic glove design, interval type-2 fuzzy number

References

• [1] A. Muralidhar, R.R. Bishu, M.S., Hallbeck, “The development of an ergonomic glove”, Applied Ergonomics, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 555– 563,1999.
• [2] J. V. Bradley, “Effects of gloves on control operation time”, Human Factors, vol. 11, pp. 13-20,1969
• [3] R. R. Bishu, and G. Klute, “The effects of extra vehicular activity (EVA) gloves on human performance”, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, vol. 16, pp. 165–174, 1995
• [4] A. S. Krausman, and M. A. Nussbaum,”Effects of wearing chemical protective clothing on text entry when using wearable input devices”, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, vol. 37, pp. 525–530, 2007.
• [5] I. Dianat, C. M. Haslegrave, A. W. Stedmon, “Methodology for evaluating gloves in relation to the effects on hand performance capabilities: a literature review”, Ergonomics, vol. 55, pp. 1429-1451, 2012.
• [6] A. Muralidhar, R. R. Bishu, “Glove evaluation: a lesson from impaired hand testing,” in Advances in Industrial Ergonomics and Safety VI London:Taylor and Francis, 1994, pp. 619-625.
• [7] F. Korona, S. McFarland, & S. Walsh, “NASA EVA glove characterization protocol development,” 48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2018
• [8] M. Z. Ramadan, “The Effects of Industrial Protective Gloves and Hand Skin Temperatures on Hand Grip Strength and Discomfort Rating,” International Journal of Enviromental Research and Public Health, vol. 14, no. 12, pp. 1506, 2017.
• [9] T. Jetzer, P. Haydon, D. D. Reynolds, “Effective intervention with ergonomics, antivibration gloves, and medical surveillance to minimize hand-arm vibration hazards in the workplace”, Journal Occupation Environment al Medicine, vol. 45, no.12, pp. 1312–1317, 2003.
• [10] L. Griffin, N. Kim, R. Carufel, S. Sokolowski, H. Lee, E. Seifert, “Dimensions of the Dynamic hand: Implications for glove design, fit and sizing”, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol. 790, pp. 38-48, 2018.
• [11] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “2016 Survey of Occupational Injuries & Illnesses. U.S. Department of Labor,” 2017.
• [12] S. M. Chen, L. W. Lee, “Fuzzy multiple attributes group decision making based on the ranking values and the arithmetic operations of interval type-2 fuzzy sets,” Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 824–833 2010.
• [13] C.L., Hwang, K. Yoon, “Multiple attributes decision making methods and applications,” in Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, vol 186, Berlin: Springer, 1981, pp. 58-191.
• [14] Y. Gong, N. Hu, J. Zhang, G. Liu, J. Deng, “Multi-attribute group decision making method based on geometric Bonferroni mean operator of trapezoidal interval type-2 fuzzy numbers,” Computers and Industrial Engineering, vol. 81, pp. 167-176, 2015.
• [15] J. Pearl, “Graphs, causality, and structural equation models,” Sociological Methods & Res., vol. 27, no. 2 pp. 226-284, 1998.
• [16] R. T. Widodo, L. Herdiman, & S. Susmartini, “Method of Selecting Gloves Based on Pressure on The Palms Using A Measuring Instrument with A Force Sensing Resistor,” Jurnal Ilmiah Teknik Industri, vol. 21 no. 1, pp. 91-96, 2022.
• [17] L. Rajabpour, H. Selamat, A. Barzegar, & M. F. Haniff, “Design of a robust active fuzzy parallel distributed compensation anti-vibration controller for a hand-glove system,” PeerJ Computer Science, vol. 7, pp. e756, 2021.
• [18] D. C. Buhman, J. A. Cherry, L. Bronkema-Orr, & R. Bishu, “Effects of glove, orientation, pressure, load, and handle on submaximal grasp force,” International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, vol. 25 no. 3, pp. 247-256, 2000.
• [19] A. Muralidhar, R. R. Bishu, “Safety performance of gloves using the pressure tolerance of the hand,” Ergonomics, vol. 43 no. 5, pp. 561-572, 2000.
• [20] I. Dianat, C. M. Haslegrave, & A. W. Stedmon, “Short and longer duration effects of protective gloves on hand performance capabilities and subjective assessments in a screw-driving task.,”Ergonomics, vol. 53 no. 12, pp. 1468-1483, 2010.
• [21] R. Wells, S. Hunt, K. Hurley, & P. Rosati, “Laboratory assessment of the effect of heavy rubber glove thickness and sizing on effort, performance and comfort” International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 386-391, 2010.
• [22] I. Dianat, C. M. Haslegrave, & A. W. Stedmon, “Using pliers in assembly work: Short and long task duration effects of gloves on hand performance capabilities and subjective assessments of discomfort and ease of tool manipulation,” Applied ergonomics, vol. 43, no. 2, pp. 413-423, 2012.
• [23] W. V. I. Awantha, A. T. Wanasinghe, A. G. P. Kavindya, A. L. Kulasekera, & D. S. Chathuranga, “A novel soft glove for hand tremor suppression: Evaluation of layer jamming actuator placement,” 2020 3rd IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft), 2020, pp. 440-445.
• [24] S. Kerner, M. Krugh, & L. Mears, “Wearable shear and normal force sensing glove development for real-time feedback on assembly line processes,” Journal of Manufacturing Systems, vol. 64, pp. 668-675, 2022.
• [25] X., Hou, T., Neuendorf, D., Mast, A., Kubley, Ng, V., & M. Schulz, “Active Textile Glove for Cooling and Personal Protection,” in Micro Vol. 2, No. 1, MDPI, 2022, pp. 68-87.
• [26] Yu, A., Sukigara, S. (2023). Investigation of materials for palm and dorsal of anti-vibration gloves for thermal comfort. Fashion and Textiles, 10(1), 1-15.
• [27] Yoshikawa, D., Kawamoto, H., Sankai, Y. (2023). Development of a wearable cybernic glove that enables object grasping and gripping force measurement with open finger pad. Advanced Robotics, 1-18.
• [28] Efe, Ö. F., Efe, B. (2022). A decision support model based on q-rung orthopair fuzzy number for glove design application. Neural Computing and Applications, 34(15), 12695-12708.
• [29] Aguiar Salazar, E. D., Alcivar Carmigniani, A. S., Aldaz Luna, B. P., Clavijo Calderón, D. F., Echeverría Ortíz, P. P., Madrid Pérez, M. A., ... & Almeida-Galárraga, D. (2020, November). Design of a glove controlled by electromyographic signals for the rehabilitation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In Conference on Information and Communication Technologies of Ecuador (pp. 3-11). Cham: Springer International Publishing.