Engineering Commons^™

Evaluating Safety And Productivity Relationship In Human-Robot Collaboration, Aayush Jain, Shakra Mehak, Philip Long, John D. Kelleher, Michael Guilfoyle, Maria Chiara Leva

Conference papers

Collaborative robots can improve ergonomics on factory floors while allowing a higher level of flexibility in production. The evolution of robotics and cyber-physical systems in size and functionality has enabled new applications which were never foreseen in traditional industrial robots. However, the current human-robot collaboration (HRC) technologies are limited in reliability and safety, which are vital in risk-critical scenarios. Certainly, confusion about European safety regulations has led to situations where collaborative robots operate behind security barriers, thus negating their advantages while reducing overall application productivity. Despite recent advances, developing a safe collaborative robotic system for performing complex industrial or daily …

Developing Novel Optimization And Machine Learning Frameworks To Improve And Assess The Safety Of Workplaces, Amin Aghalari

Theses and Dissertations

This study proposes several decision-making tools utilizing optimization and machine learning frameworks to assess and improve the safety of the workplaces. The first chapter of this study presents a novel mathematical model to optimally locate a set of detectors to minimize the expected number of casualties in a given threat area. The problem is formulated as a nonlinear binary integer programming model and then solved as a linearized branch-and-bound algorithm. Several sensitivity analyses illustrate the model's robustness and draw key managerial insights. One of the prevailing threats in the last decades, Active Shooting (AS) violence, poses a serious threat to …

Safety Evaluation Of Amusement Rides Using Accumulated Accident Data: Accident Data Framework, Kathryn Woodcock

Journal of Themed Experience and Attractions Studies

Amusement rides and devices are a popular form of recreation and important component of the tourism industry. Injury-producing accidents are rare, and the viability of the industry relies on perceived safety of the activity. Some existing metrics use accumulated accident reports. Several metrics tabulate the number of injuries, but none collect enough information about the context of accidents to analyse the accumulated data to deduce patterns. This paper describes an Accident Data Framework for a minimal set of variables from reports of amusement device accident, and the structure for a useful narrative to aid reporters and recorders to avoid introducing …

Human Ergonomic Simulation To Support The Design Of An Exoskeleton For Lashing/De-Lashing Operations Of Containers Cargo, Francesco Longo, Antonio Padovano, Vittorio Solina, Virginia D' Augusta, Stefan Venzl, Roberto Calbi, Michele Bartuni, Ornella Anastasi, Rafael Diaz

VMASC Publications

Lashing and de-lashing operations of containers cargo on board containerships are considered as quite strenuous activities in which operators are required to work continuously over a 6 or 8 hours shift with very limited break. This is mostly because containerships need to leave the port as soon as possible and containers loading and unloading operations must be executed with very high productivity (stay moored in a port is a totally unproductive time for a ship and a loss-making business for a shipping company). Operators performing lashing and de-lashing operations are subjected to intense ergonomic stress and uncomfortable working postures. To …

Critical Chain – Or Why Wedding Planners Get Ulcers, Greg Hutto

Operations Management Presentations

Planning a wedding is one of the most challenging projects in a young life… So much to do! A respected journal in the project management literature -- Southern Bride -- advises well-off young couples to escape stress and employ a professional wedding planner+. In today's webinar we will contrast two project planning methods in examining one such wedding project -- hastily planned and beset with troubles. We will shed light on the science & art of project management and possibly help our wedding planners (both professional and amateur) avoid stress-induced medical complications. In this webinar, we’ll be spending time with …

Influence Of The Inherent Safety Principles On Quantitative Risk In Process Industry: Application Of Genetic Algorithm Process Optimization (Gapo), Mehdi Jahangiri, Abolfazl Moghadasi, Mojtaba Kamalinia, Farid Sadeghianjahromi, Sean Banaee

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Inherent safety (IS) refers to a set of measures that enhance the safety level of processes and equipment, rendering additional equipment and/or add-ons. The early design phase of processes is suited best for implementation of IS strategies as some of such strategies either are impossible to be implemented at the operation phase or substantially increase costs. The purpose of this study is to present a new approach called genetic algorithm process optimization (GAPO), by which processes can be made inherently safer even at the operation phase. This study simulates the IS principle, assessing its impact on quantitative risk and the …

Macroeconomic Aspects Of Maintenance Optimization Of Critical Infrastructures, S. A. Timashev, A. V. Bushinskaya

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The main goal of maintenance is prevention, timely detection and elimination of failures and damage. From the point of view of critical infrastructures (CIs), the main purpose of their maintenance is to increase the safety of CIs and / or to ensure life safety. CIs should be optimal in terms of their purpose, cost, as a source of income and profit at all stages of their life cycle, and also acceptable in terms of possible loss of human lives or injuries. The paper considers the assessment of necessary optimal investments in the maintenance (time interval between subsequent maintenance), to increase …

Rebar Impalement Safety, Spencer C. Nefores, Steven M. Hoover

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This project is sponsored by Webcor with the purpose of finding a better solution to rebar impalement safety. The current rebar impalement safety caps being used by Webcor were found to frequently fall off after being installed. This results in workers being exposed to the hazard for longer than desired. The research that has been done by the team showed that rebar impalement is a serious hazard and results in injury or death every year. Site visits and interviews were performed to aid in understanding the problem and designing solutions. The customer needs, current state of the problem, existing solutions, …

The Business Case For Industrial Safety: Revealing The Comprehensive Value Of Ergonomic Investments For Manufacturing Enterprises In Industry 4.0, Shane Stan

Honors Theses

How can today’s manufacturing enterprises construct, implement, and optimize modern safety initiatives in a manner that will present maximum return on investment and facilitate enterprise growth? Furthermore, how can these manufacturers assure individual ergonomic investments become part of a larger strategy to facilitate organizational change in safety? This work addresses these questions by placing industrial ergonomics in a business improvement context which comprehensively presents the financial returns and growth opportunities poised by modern safety initiatives. Additionally, to further strengthen the business case for industrial safety, an ergonomic action planning framework is established to guide the creation of holistic safety programs …

Risk Awareness Enhancement Systems For Hazmat Transportation: Prototyping And Technology Evaluation, Jian Xue, Katherine Linville, Yu Li, Pranav Nitin Godse, Suzanna Long, Ruwen Qin

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Workers of hazardous material (hazmat) transportation have a higher chance than other workers to be exposed to various risks in their workplace. Assisting them to safely operate in their workplace in a near real-time manner is in particular need. This paper presents a study of designing, prototyping and developing feedback systems to help increase the risk awareness of workers in the loading and uploading phases of hazmat transportation. The first system was prototyped on an Arduino board, serving as the reference for system development. Then, the second system, named a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon based system, was designed as …

Multi-Dimension Proportion-Differential Nonlinear Pilot Model And Simulation Application, Weian Jiang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: For better simulated study of pilot’s accident avoidance ability and pilot induced oscillation (PIO) characteristic of a man-aircraft close loop system, a method of “physiology-psychology-physiology” is presented to divide pilot models into three parts of input(signal), processing(decision making) and output(action), and a new multi-dimension proportion-differential nonlinear pilot model (MPDNLPM) is presented also. Simulated study is performed by simulated control of an aircraft pitch control model under backside tracking status for carrier landing. Conclusion: 1) The control performance of the man-aircraft system is slightly better than an ideal proportional control. 2) PIO is possible for well-trained pilot. 3) Proper anticipation, …

Autonomous Airliners Anytime Soon?, Samuel M. Vance, Evan C. Bird, Daniel J. Tiffin

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This research seeks to extend the body of knowledge on factors influential in the decision to fly on an autonomous airliner as a passenger. Only a handful of studies have probed this direct question in the last 16 years, but the data is showing a growing public acceptance of this type of travel. Pivotal in this consideration is the basic element of trust – trust in automated airliners and trust in the airline and Air Traffic Control systems which are responsible for autonomous airliners. Human trust has many forms and manifestations, but in the end, it is a dichotomous or …

Implementation Of 5s At A Survey Laboratory In Western Kentucky University, Mercy Akunna Ebuetse

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

5S is a technique used alongside methodologies such as lean, total quality management and six-sigma for continuous improvement and workplace standardization. Nonetheless, despite the upsurge in the implementation of 5S by lean manufacturing facilities and other industries, educational laboratories appear to be lagging. Taking into consideration the benefits of implementing 5S within industry, it has become crucial to replicate the technique in an educational laboratory to obtain equivalent results. To upgrade educational laboratories into industrial laboratories, 5S (sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain) is required to improve the laboratory’s ergonomics that subsequently increases efficiency, productivity, and lessens waste …

Transforming Yekaterinburg Into A Safe, Resilient-Smart And Sustainable City, S. A. Timashev, V. N. Alekhin, L. V. Poluyan, I. Fontanals, A. Gheorghe

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The initiative (since 2014) project described in this paper is a product of a joint innovative research and implementation effort of the Civil Engineering and Architecture Institute, Ural Federal University, the Science and Engineering Centre "Reliability and Safety of Large Systems and Machines", Ural Branch Russian Academy of Sciences (both Yekaterinburg), Start-up OptiCits, Barcelona, Spain and the Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA. The project is based on using the MAICS convergent technology [1] to create a versatile multi-purpose tool for optimizing the science and art of risk based governance of resilience-smart and sustainable city infrastructure and communities operating in …

Uas Pilots Code – Annotated Version 1.0, Michael S. Baum, Kristine Kiernan, Donald W. Steinman, Ryan J. Wallace Ed.D.

Publications

The UAS PILOTS CODE (UASPC) offers recommendations to advance flight safety, ground safety, airmanship, and professionalism.6 It presents a vision of excellence for UAS pilots and operators, and includes general guidance for all types of UAS. The UASPC offers broad guidance—a set of values—to help a pilot interpret and apply standards and regulations, and to confront real world challenges to avoid incidents and accidents. It is designed to help UAS pilots develop standard operating procedures (SOPs), effective risk management,7 safety management systems (SMS), and to encourage UAS pilots to consider themselves aviators and participants in the broader aviation community.

Opening Autonomous Airspace–A Prologue, Samuel M. Vance

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The proliferation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and in particular small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS), has significant operational implications for the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system of the future. Integrating unmanned aircraft safely presents long-standing challenges, especially during the lengthy transition period when unmanned vehicles will be mixed with piloted vehicles. Integration of dissimilar systems is not an easy, straight-forward task and in this case is complicated by the difficulty to truly know what is present in the airspace. Additionally, there are significant technology, security and liability issues that will need resolution to ensure property and life are protected and …

Impact Of A Localized Lean Six Sigma Implementation On Overall Patient Safety And Process Efficiency, Luvianca Gil, Pilar Pazos, Mamadou Seck, Rolando Delaguila

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Continuous quality improvement tools have caught the attention of the Health Care Industry as a solution to process efficiency, patient safety and cost reduction. This research explores the impact of a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) process improvement initiative in overall process efficiency and patient safety in two Labor and Delivery (L+D) units of two large hospital providers. This study focuses on the application of modeling and simulation methodology to investigate the influence of a localized process improvement intervention on the overall L+D unit output, by considering patient flow, system capacity and unit performance. The simulation models capacity profiles and patient …

Standardizing Functional Safety Assessments For Off-The-Shelf Instrumentation And Controls, Andrew Michael Nack

Masters Theses

It is typical for digital instrumentation and controls, used to manage significant risk, to undergo substantial amounts of scrutiny. The equipment must be proven to have the necessary level of design integrity. The details of the scrutiny vary based on the particular industry, but the ultimate goal is to provide sufficient evidence that the equipment will operate successfully when performing their required functions.

To be able to stand up to the scrutiny and more importantly, successfully perform the required safety functions, the equipment must be designed to defend against random hardware failures and also to prevent systematic faults. These design …

Safety Culture Monitoring: A Management Approach For Assessing Nuclear Safety Culture Health Performance Utilizing Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis, James Harold Warren Jr.

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Nuclear power plants are among the most technologically complex of all energy facilities. This complexity reflects the precision needed in design, maintenance and operations to harness the energy of the atom safely, reliably and economically. Nuclear energy thus requires consistent, high levels of organizational performance by the highly skilled professionals who operate and maintain nuclear power plants (Nuclear Energy Institute [NEI], 2014, p. 1).

A key element for achieving consistent, high levels of performance in a nuclear organization is its safety culture. Nuclear safety culture is for an organization what character and personality is for an individual: a feature that …

Investigating Teenage Drivers' Driving Behavior Before And After Lag (Less Aggressive Goals) Training Program, Jingyi Zhang

Masters Theses

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death during adolescence, with the fatal crash rate per mile-driven for 16-19 years old drivers being nearly 3 times larger than the rate for drivers age 20 and older. High gravitational events among teenage drivers, such as quick starts, and hard stops, have been shown to be highly correlated with crash rates. The current younger driver training programs developed in the late 1990s, however, do not appear to be especially effective in regard to many skills which are critical to avoiding crashes. With this in mind, a simulator-based training program aimed at …

Development Of Safety Standards For Cubesat Propulsion Systems, Liam Jon Cheney

Master's Theses

The CubeSat community has begun to develop and implement propulsion systems. This movement represents a new capability which may satisfy mission needs such as orbital and constellation maintenance, formation flight, de-orbit, and even interplanetary travel. With the freedom and capability granted by propulsion systems, CubeSat providers must accept new responsibilities in proportion to the potential hazards that propulsion systems may present.

The Cal Poly CubeSat program publishes and maintains the CubeSat Design Specification (CDS). They wish to help the CubeSat community to safety and responsibly expand its capabilities to include propulsive designs. For this reason, the author embarked on the …

Human Error In Mining: A Multivariable Analysis Of Mining Accidents/Incidents In Queensland, Australia And The United States Of America Using The Human Factors Analysis And Classification System Framework, Jessica Patterson

All Dissertations

Historically, mining has been viewed as an inherently high-risk industry. Nevertheless, the introduction of new technology and a heightened concern for safety has yielded marked reductions in accident and injury rates over the last several decades. In an effort to further reduce these rates, the human factors associated with incidents/accidents need to be addressed. A modified version of the Human Factors Classification and Analysis System (HFCAS-MI) was used to analyze lost time accidents and high-potential incidents from across Queensland, Australia and fatal accidents from the United States of America (USA) to identify human factor trends and system deficiencies within mining. …

Dynamic Stability Of Two Tractor Front-End Loader Systems, Michael J. Bader, Linus R. Walton, Larry G. Wells

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

A one-quarter scale model tractor and loader were designed, fabricated, and used in an experiment to evaluate two tractor-loader configurations relative to stability using roll angle as the means of assessment. The nonconventional loader system consisted of a conventional loader attached to a steerable carrier which in turn was attached to the tractor by the front axle and drawbar of the tractor. The stabilizing axle for the non-conventional loader system was the front axle as opposed to the conventional system in which the stabilizing axle was the rear axle. The experiment showed that the non-conventional loader had an inherent advantage …