Evaluating an inertial measurement unit based system for after-reach speed measurement in power press applications

Abstract

The objective of this study was to measure the hand speed of eighteen (18) subjects making after-reach movements from an upper palm button (UB) and lower palm button (LB) on a simulated press. Each after-reach movement was measured with a Vicon optical motion capture system and an Xsens IMU based system. A Bland-Altman analysis of the speed measured by the two technologies demonstrated a general agreement (average bias 0.19 m/s) between the measurements and a potential for using IMUs for hand-speed measures in the future. However, the computation intensity required to manipulate the Xsens data is likely too complex and time consuming for practitioners who are busy with plant activities. A simple IMU system, designed specifically for hand speed capture, could be a viable option for measuring after-reach speed in the future.