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Emergency stop controls are essential parts of industrial machinery because they are designed to stop the operation in case of emergencies without risks to operators, equipment, products, or facilities. Current guidelines for emergency stop controls have been formulated based on experience but not on empirical studies. The main objectives of this research were to determine the effects of the type and orientation of emergency stop pushbuttons on the reaction time, mode of activation, and preferences of subjects in order to formulate guidelines for their selection. An experiment consisting of a simple, cooperative assembly operation with a Microbot was designed for this study. The main conclusions of this research are that reaction time to activate emergency stop pushbutton is not affected by the orientation of the control but it is influenced by the type of control. The mode of activation of emergency stop pushbuttons is influenced by both the type and the orientation of the control. Subjects preferred emergency stop pushbuttons without guards or with half guards over controls with full guards, and subjects also preferred an inclined orientation of the control over horizontal or vertical orientations. The following guidelines are recommended for the selection of emergency stop pushbuttons. Select emergency stop pushbuttons without guards. If a guard is absolutely required, select a guard with slots or a half guard to ensure adequate visibility of and access to the button. If possible, give emergency stop pushbuttons an inclined orientation (about 45��) on the control panel. Avoid using vertical orientations for these controls. / Graduation date: 1997

Recent research on attempts to motivate large-scale safety belt use has documented a number of shortcoming, including limited long-term evaluation data, excessive costs, short-lived intervention effects, and program delivery by outside agencies rather than indigenous personnel. The present study attempted to overcome these disadvantages. Specifically, the "Buckle-up for Bucks" safety belt promotion campaign conducted at a community hospital incorporated the following: a) indigenous hospital staff as program sponsors, delivery agents, and co-coordinators; b) a year-long program evaluation; and c) a combination incentive and commitment-based intervention program. Directed and coordinated through the Office of Community Relations, the hospital-based intervention included awareness sessions, randomly determined five-dollar a week cash incentives, and a commitment-based pledge card strategy. To be eligible to win the incentives, the staff members met the following contingencies: a) wore a safety belt; b) signed a pledge card; c) displayed the signed pledge card on their dashboard; and d) pledged for a duration that ensured eligibility. The evaluation data were collected for four phases: baseline, intervention, withdrawal, and a long-term, follow-up. For the overall sample, usage increased from a baseline mean of 15.6% to 34.7% during the intervention, decreased to 25.6 at withdrawal, and increased to a long-term follow-up mean of 28.6%. For the Pledge card signers and the Non-singers, usage increased from baseline means of 29.4% and 11.8% to intervention usage rates of 75.1% and 17.7%, respectively, demonstrating that the intervention had a differential effect on the signers and non-signers. Withdrawal and Follow-up usage rates were 56.0% and 44.9% for the Pledge group, and 17.2% and 22.1% for the Non-pledge group. A chi-square test for white noise indicated the data were autocorrelated. A time-series analysis was conducted to remove the serial dependency. Statistical significance of the intervention was examined from the time-series perspective and traditional analysis of variance procedures. Differences between approaches are addressed and theoretical explanations for the intervention effects are considered. Finally, suggestions for future research are offered. / M.S.

This study examined the effect that pulse rate, pulse pattern, and onset distance had on the performance of an auditory warning signal. The warning signal's purpose was to alert mobile crane operators of their proximity to overhead power lines. The study consisted of two experimental phases. The first phase consisted of three sections; A) development and construction of the PWD's auditory warning signal. B) development of the experimental tasks and a pilot study, and C) an examination of the workload level of the secondary tracking task. Phase two consisted of a full factorial experiment which examined the performance effects caused by pulse rate range, pulse pattern, and onset distance manipulations. The experimental task required subjects to monitor an auditory warning system while simultaneously operating a single-axis driving simulation task. Subjects were required to initiate braking responses based on the information conveyed through the auditory collision warming system. In addition, subjective ratings were obtained to compare subjects’ actual performance using the warning system to their subjective preferences. Results indicate that subjects performed optimally under warning signals with moderate onset distances and low pulse rates. The pulse pattern did not have a large impact on subjects' performance across the various warning signals. Overall, it was concluded that a pulsing auditory warning signal comprised of a moderate onset distance and low pulse rate was subjectively preferred and would work effectively as a proximity warning device for mobile cranes. / Master of Science

Two previous studies performed at Virginia Tech have shown that it is feasible to detect drowsy drivers using driving performance and physiological measures. Therefore, assuming that drowsiness can be detected, it becomes important to develop methods (countermeasures) by which drivers can regain and maintain alertness. The current study was thus undertaken in an attempt to evaluate three subsidiary tasks which differed only in regard to input modality (auditory, tactual, or visual) in terms of: 1) the degree to which they aided the driver by maintaining or restoring alertness; and 2) the degree to which the responses to these tasks could be used to detect drowsiness. Subjective measures of drowsiness were also obtained to provide an additional source of verification of level of drowsiness. To accomplish these objectives, a total of 12 male and female driver-subjects drove a moving-base simulator continuously from 12:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. During this time, the subjects performed each of the subsidiary tasks for a 30-minute period; they also drove for a 30-minute period during which no subsidiary task was performed. During the simulated, nighttime, highway driving scenario, 20 driving performance, behavioral, and physiological measures were collected for each 3-minute driving interval, along with 5 subsidiary task measures and subjective alertness ratings. The experimental results indicated that none of the three subsidiary tasks provided an effective means of maintaining driver alertness. However, the results of a second series of discriminant analyses did indicate that driver impairment due to drowsiness could be reliably detected with linear combinations of subsidiary task and driving measures. In fact, promising discriminant models for the auditory and visual tasks were identified which employed a subsidiary task response measure of the number of correct responses to the subsidiary task during each 6-minute driving interval as well as a physiological measure of the subject's heart rate variance; these models showed overall classification error percentages as low as 3% and 8%. Finally, the analyses of the subjective alertness ratings indicated that subjects' ratings were not significantly affected by either the type of subsidiary task performed or time-on-task. / Ph. D.

A pledge card program designed to motivate safety belt use was implemented at a Baptist church in Blacksburg, Virginia. The intervention consisted of an educational insert and pledge card which were included in church bulletins on one Sunday morning. The insert described the risk of injury on highways and added a prompt for parents to provide positive role models for their children by wearing safety belts. The pledge card included a statement that signers would buckle their safety belts for four weeks when traveling. Data were collected at predetermined time periods on Sunday mornings between January 29 and May 20, 1984. The study consisted of five phases: Unannounced Baseline, Announced Baseline, Pledge Period, Follow-Up, and Long-Term Follow-Up. Ten percent of 441 individuals attending church when the pledge cards were distributed signed and returned a pledge card. Results revealed that shoulder belt use of pledge card signers increased significantly after signing the pledge cards, while shoulder belt use of non-signers did not significantly increase. In addition, shoulder belt usage of females was significantly higher than shoulder belt usage of males following the announcement of the research and throughout the remainder of the study. Evidence of participant reactivity is also presented. Suggestions are made for mitigating reactivity, for achieving greater impact on males, and for motivating more males and females to sign pledge cards. / Master of Science

Orientador: João Eduardo Guarnetti dos Santos / Banca: Jair Rosas da Silva / Banca: Luis Gonzaga Campos Porto / Resumo: O setor da cana-de-açúcar sempre foi muito bem visto no Brasil; nos séculos XVI e XVII com a grande aceitação do açúcar no mercado europeu e alto valor financeiro agregado ao produto, houve uma grande expansão do setor no nordeste brasileiro devido à adaptação da plantação ao clima e à grande presença do trabalho escravo africano no cultivo. Na década de 70 do século XX houve um salto do setor sucroenergético com a produção do etanol como fonte alternativa de energia e à fabricação do carro a álcool em um período de altas do petróleo no mercado mundial. Junto com a rápida evolução do setor sucroenergético, vieram também os problemas ecológicos e sociais. Grandes corporações subsidiadas pelo Governo Federal no Projeto Próacool, recebiam as verbas e benefícios para uma produção mais eficiente e limpa. Com todos esses problemas, no final da década de 80 do século XX, o setor entrou em desaceleração. No início do século XXI o setor vive uma oportunidade histórica, pois com o fim anunciado das reservas de petróleo e as catástrofes devido às mudanças climáticas causadas pelo homem, hoje o etanol brasileiro é visto pelo mundo como uma fonte alternativa e sustentável; sem contar com o alto valor do açúcar pelo mercado europeu como nos séculos XVI e XVII. Mas o setor não é só alegria, pois luta contra os problemas de vivência dos tratos dos trabalhadores do setor, que se assemelha muito ao trabalho escravo sofrido pelos africanos no período áureo do açúcar. Apesar de o governo fiscalizar e criar novas leis, como a NR 31 (Norma Regulamentadora - Segurança e Saúde no trabalho na agricultura, pecuária silvicultura, exploração florestal e aquicultura); os trabalhadores do setor sucroenergético tem tido pouca atenção dos profissionais que desenvolvem produtos para este setor. Tudo que se é exigido... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The sector of cane sugas has always been well regarded in Brazil, in the sixteenth and seventheenth centuries with great acceptance in the European market for sugar and high value added to the product, there was a great expansion of the sector in northeastern Brazil due to adaptation plantation climate and large presence of African slave labor in cultivation. In the 70s of the twentieth century there was a jump of the sugarcane industry with the production of ethanol as an alternative energy source and manufacture the car with alcohol in period of high oil on the world market. Along with the rapid development of the sugarcane industry, came also the ecological and social problems. Large corporations subsidized by the Federal Government in Proálcool Project, received the money and benefits for a cleaner and more efficient production. With all these problems in the late 80s of the twentieth century, the industry went into deceleration. At the beginning of the XXI century industry is experiencing a historic opportunity, because with the announced end of oil reserves and disasters due to climate change caused by humans, today Brazilian ethanol is seen by the world as an alternative and sustainable source, not counting the high amount of sugar in the European market as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But the industry is not only joy, for combating the problems of living the treatment of workers in the sector, which closely resembles slave labor suffered by Africans in the heyday of sugar. Althrough the government oversee and create new laws, as the NR 31 (Norm - Safety and Health at Work in agriculture, forestry livestock, forestry and aquaculture); workers in the sugarcane industry has had little attention from professionals who develope products for this sector. All that is required is adapted from another industry... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-08-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:30:46Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 queiroz_frc_me_bauru.pdf: 907123 bytes, checksum: 0089cd5002e3325a1111218cf4f9b9c7 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O setor da cana-de-açúcar sempre foi muito bem visto no Brasil; nos séculos XVI e XVII com a grande aceitação do açúcar no mercado europeu e alto valor financeiro agregado ao produto, houve uma grande expansão do setor no nordeste brasileiro devido à adaptação da plantação ao clima e à grande presença do trabalho escravo africano no cultivo. Na década de 70 do século XX houve um salto do setor sucroenergético com a produção do etanol como fonte alternativa de energia e à fabricação do carro a álcool em um período de altas do petróleo no mercado mundial. Junto com a rápida evolução do setor sucroenergético, vieram também os problemas ecológicos e sociais. Grandes corporações subsidiadas pelo Governo Federal no Projeto Próacool, recebiam as verbas e benefícios para uma produção mais eficiente e limpa. Com todos esses problemas, no final da década de 80 do século XX, o setor entrou em desaceleração. No início do século XXI o setor vive uma oportunidade histórica, pois com o fim anunciado das reservas de petróleo e as catástrofes devido às mudanças climáticas causadas pelo homem, hoje o etanol brasileiro é visto pelo mundo como uma fonte alternativa e sustentável; sem contar com o alto valor do açúcar pelo mercado europeu como nos séculos XVI e XVII. Mas o setor não é só alegria, pois luta contra os problemas de vivência dos tratos dos trabalhadores do setor, que se assemelha muito ao trabalho escravo sofrido pelos africanos no período áureo do açúcar. Apesar de o governo fiscalizar e criar novas leis, como a NR 31 (Norma Regulamentadora - Segurança e Saúde no trabalho na agricultura, pecuária silvicultura, exploração florestal e aquicultura); os trabalhadores do setor sucroenergético tem tido pouca atenção dos profissionais que desenvolvem produtos para este setor. Tudo que se é exigido... / The sector of cane sugas has always been well regarded in Brazil, in the sixteenth and seventheenth centuries with great acceptance in the European market for sugar and high value added to the product, there was a great expansion of the sector in northeastern Brazil due to adaptation plantation climate and large presence of African slave labor in cultivation. In the 70s of the twentieth century there was a jump of the sugarcane industry with the production of ethanol as an alternative energy source and manufacture the car with alcohol in period of high oil on the world market. Along with the rapid development of the sugarcane industry, came also the ecological and social problems. Large corporations subsidized by the Federal Government in Proálcool Project, received the money and benefits for a cleaner and more efficient production. With all these problems in the late 80s of the twentieth century, the industry went into deceleration. At the beginning of the XXI century industry is experiencing a historic opportunity, because with the announced end of oil reserves and disasters due to climate change caused by humans, today Brazilian ethanol is seen by the world as an alternative and sustainable source, not counting the high amount of sugar in the European market as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. But the industry is not only joy, for combating the problems of living the treatment of workers in the sector, which closely resembles slave labor suffered by Africans in the heyday of sugar. Althrough the government oversee and create new laws, as the NR 31 (Norm - Safety and Health at Work in agriculture, forestry livestock, forestry and aquaculture); workers in the sugarcane industry has had little attention from professionals who develope products for this sector. All that is required is adapted from another industry... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

En France, les chutes constituent la première cause de mortalité chez les plus de 75 ans, et la seconde chez les plus de 65 ans. On estime qu'elle engendre un coût de 1 à 2 milliards d'euros par an pour la société. L'enjeu humain et socio-économique est colossal, sachant que le risque de chute est multiplié par 20 après une première chute, que le risque de décès est multiplié par 4 dans l'année qui suit une chute, que les chutes concernent 30% des personnes de plus de 65 ans et 50% des personnes de plus de 85 ans, et que l'on estime que d'ici 2050, plus de 30% de la population sera âgée de plus de 65 ans. Cette thèse propose un dispositif de détection de présence au sol se basant sur l'analyse de cartes de profondeurs acquises en temps réel, ainsi qu'une amélioration du dispositif proposé utilisant également un capteur thermique. Les cartes de profondeurs et les images thermiques nous permettent de nous affranchir des conditions d'illumination de la scène observée, et garantissent l'anonymat des personnes qui évoluent dans le champ de vision du dispositif. Cette thèse propose également différentes méthodes de détection du plan du sol dans une carte de profondeurs, le plan du sol constituant une référence géométrique nécessaire au dispositif proposé. Une enquête psychosociale a été réalisée, qui nous a permis d'évaluer l'acceptabilité a priori dudit dispositif. Cette enquête a démontré sa bonne acceptabilité, et a fourni des préconisations quant aux points d'amélioration et aux écueils à éviter. Enfin, une méthode de suivi d'objets dans une carte de profondeurs est proposée, un objectif à plus long terme consistant à mesurer l'activité des individus observés. / In France, fall is the first death cause for people aged 75 and more, and the second death cause for people aged 65 and more. It is considered that falls generate about 1 to 2 billion euros health costs per year. The human and social-economical issue is crucial, knowing that for the mentioned populations, fall risk is multiplied by 20 after a first fall; that the death risk is multiplied by 4 in the year following a fall; that per year, 30% of the people aged 65 and more and 50% of the people aged 85 and more are subject to falls; and that it is estimated that more than 30% of the French population whill be older than 65 years old by 2050. This thesis proposes a ground lying event detection device which bases on the real time analysis of depth maps, and also proposes an improvement of the device, which uses an additional thermal sensor. Depth maps and thermal images ensure the device is independent from textures and lighting conditions of the observed scenes, and guarantee that the device respects the privacy of those who pass into its field of view, since nobody can be recognized in such images. This thesis also proposes several methods to detect the ground plane in a depth map, the ground plane being a geometrical reference for the device. A psycho-social inquiry was conducted, and enabled the evaluation of the a priori acceptability of the proposed device. This inquiry demonstrated the good acceptability of the proposed device, and resulted in recommendations on points to be improved and on pitfalls to avoid. Last, a method to separate and track objects detected in a depth map is proposed, the measurement of the activity of observed individuals being a long term objective for the device.