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Computer assisted ergonomic workstation designs and methods

  • US 10,078,096 B2
  • Filed: 10/21/2014
  • Issued: 09/18/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2013
  • Status: Active Grant
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First Claim
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1. A method for decreasing adverse spinal postures of a subject seated at a workstation, comprising the steps:

  • a) providing a mobile computing device, having a processor, a memory, a plurality of sensors for detecting acceleration; and

    a display;

    b) affixing said mobile computing device to said chair;

    c) adjusting the height of said chair to a first height and adjusting a seat pan angle to a first seat pan angle;

    d) instructing said subject to sit in said chair and move the chair with maximum leg strength tested in functional directions, including forward-backward motion, side-to-side motion of the chair, and flexion and extension of the spine using said subject'"'"'s feet placed firmly on the floor;

    e) determining the maximum acceleration achieved during said moving in step d;

    where said determining maximum acceleration in step e is carried out by sensors and a processor, said processor programmed to perform the steps;

    i) said sensors providing acceleration to sense and to provide gravity data for three dimensions of motion, an “

    X”

    dimension, a “

    Y”

    dimension, and a “

    Z”

    dimension, each of said dimensions being perpendicular to each of the other dimensions, said data being “

    gravX”

    , “

    gravy”

    , and “

    gravZ”

    , respectively, each expressed as the effective gravitational acceleration in each of said dimensions;

    ii) using said sensors to sample said gravity data at a frequency of 1 time per second to 40 times per second, filtering said data to reduce noise, storing said filtered data in said memory;

    iii) updating said gravX, gravy and gravZ values where said updated values are calculated according to the following formulas;


    gravX=alpha*gravX+(1−

    alpha)*ev.x;


    gravY=alpha*gravY+(1−

    alpha)*ev.y;


    gravZ=alpha*gravZ+(1−

    alpha)*ev.z;

    where alpha is a time interval for a low pass filter, ev.x, ev.y, and ev.z are new gravity data in the X, Y, and Z dimensions respectively, and alpha is between 0.1 and 0.9;

    iv) calculate acceleration by removing the gravity contribution using a high-pass filter according to the following formulas;


    accX=ev.x−

    gravX;


    accY=ev.y−

    gravY;


    accZ=ev.z−

    gravZ, where accZ, accY, and accZ are accelerations in the X, Y, and Z dimensions, respectively; and

    v) calculating for each time point, total linear acceleration (“

    A”

    ) according to the formula;


    A=(accX2+accY2+accZ2)1/2;

    vi) storing said values of A in said memory; and

    f) adjusting the height of said chair to a second height, or adjusting said seat pan angle to a second seat pan angle;

    g) repeating steps d and e;

    h) adjusting the height of said chair to a third height, or adjusting said seat pan angle to a third seat pan angle;

    i) repeating steps d and e;

    j) displaying on the display, the maximum accelerations achieved versus chair height; and

    k) adjusting the chair height to the height producing maximum acceleration or adjusting the seat pan angle to the seat pan angle producing the maximum acceleration, said chair height or said seat pan angle so adjusted thereby decreasing adverse spinal posture of said subject.

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