Human motion behavior while interacting with an industrial robot

Human workers and industrial robots both have specific strengths within industrial production. Advantageously they complement each other perfectly, which leads to the development of human-robot interaction (HRI) applications. Bringing humans and robots together in the same workspace may lead to potential collisions. The avoidance of such is a central safety requirement. It can be realized with sundry sensor systems, all of them decelerating the robot when the distance to the human decreases alarmingly and applying the emergency stop, when the distance becomes too small. As a consequence, the efficiency of the overall systems suffers, because the robot has high idle times. Optimized path planning algorithms have to be developed to avoid that. The following study investigates human motion behavior in the proximity of an industrial robot. Three different kinds of encounters between the two entities under three robot speed levels are prompted. A motion tracking system is used to capture the motions. Results show, that humans keep an average distance of about 0,5m to the robot, when the encounter occurs. Approximation of the workbenches is influenced by the robot in ten of 15 cases. Furthermore, an increase of participants' walking velocity with higher robot velocities is observed.     

Subjective and objective evaluation of sense of space for vehicle occupants based on anthropometric data

At present, the number of the vehicle requirements has been continuously increasing. These requirements can be related to the customer as well as the technical requirements. Among these, the "feeling of space" of the occupants inside the vehicles can be regarded as one of the most important factors. In this respect, the driver and passengers should be able to experience positive feeling of space inside the vehicle. There are numerous factors that can influence the sense of space inside the vehicle. These include geometry (vehicle dimensions), light exposure, ambient lights, colors, material selection and material surface. Depending on the selection, the sense of space can be dramatically influenced by these factors. In general, human feeling is subjective and cannot be measured by any instrument. The measure can nevertheless be carried out by utilizing the method of subjective evaluation. Throughout the experiments, the method of evaluation is developed and the factors which can influence the interior feeling are analyzed. In this process, psychological perception, architectural aspects and anthropometry are considered and knowledge from the other domains is transferred in the form of a multidisciplinary approach. The experiments with an aim to evaluate the overall sense of space in the vehicle are carried out based on the physical mock up of BMW 1 series (E87). The space perception with different interior dimensions and anthropometric data of test persons are also analyzed. The use of Computer Aided Technology was shown by CATIA V5, PCMAN and RAMSIS. The results show a good correlation between the subjective evaluation and the geometric values.     

BASE als Programm zur Pr?vention von (Rücken-)Beschwerden in der betrieblichen Gesundheitsf?rderung

Common occupational health problems, especially low back pain, are associated with physical demands of work, like lifting heavy weights. The study examined a multidimensional methodological approach (BASE) to reduce physical stresses in a logistic company in three stages: (1) theoretical background and implementation of the program, (2) evaluation of outcome-effects of a box lifting training (10 weeks) and (3) learning and lasting effects of workers?? knowledge and behaviour with regard to ergonomic box lifting. Video analysis and questionnaires were used for breakdown analysis. Stage (2) and (3) collected intervention effects with a controlled pre?\post test design (N?=?41 males; 37.8?±?10.8 y.). The breakdown analysis revealed low back pain (65?%) as a result of repeated manual lifting processes. Participants of the intervention showed a more ergonomic movement initiated by a more functional cognitive representation in long term memory. We suggest that especially this group of employees, with little motivation to participate in health promotion, benefit from the whole methodological approach of the BASE-program.     

Linking Food Security with Household’s Adaptive Capacity and Drought Risk: Implications for Sustainable Rural Development

In spite of green revolution and rapid economic growth, India’s vast population still suffers from hunger and poverty, especially in the rural areas. Moreover, drought adversely affects India’s economy by declining agricultural production and purchasing power. It also escalates rural unemployment which ultimately affects household food security. Our study investigated the food security of drought prone rural households in a broader context by linking the dimensions of food security with dimensions of climate change vulnerability. We used the primary data of 157 drought prone rural households of Odisha state in India for analysis. This study employed polychoric principal component analysis to construct an aggregate food security index. An ordered probit model was used to estimate the determinants of food security. The FSI showed that three-fourth of the respondents were facing food security issues with varying degrees. The estimates of ordered probit model indicated that joint family, education, migration and health insurance are key variables that determine food security, whereas drought adversely affected food security of rural households. Overarching strategies are required to effectively address food security issues in the wake of increased drought risk. This study provides an insight for policy makers in India and in similar south Asian countries who must consider food security in the light of drought.

     

Remittances and well-being among rural-to-urban migrants in China

The main objective of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to empirically analyse the relationship between sending remittances and the utility of migrants, as proxied by their subjective well-being (SWB). Using data from a new survey on China, we estimate models in which a SWB measure is regressed on the level of remittances, finding a sizeable positive correlation. The estimates vary with the socio-economic characteristics of migrants, migration experience and the diversity of family arrangements. As a complementary objective, we use SWB measures to elicit the motivations behind remittances, finding evidence that both altruistic and contractual motivations are at work among rural-to-urban migrants in China.     

Das deutsche Produktionsmodell unter dem Druck des Shareholder Value

The industrial restructuring of the 1990s has a twofold character. The wide reception of different modes of direct participation during the first half of the 1990s was followed by a much more restrictive development in the second half of the decade. More shareholder value-oriented forms of corporate governance encourage cyclical changes of management orientation resulting from the structural contradictions of a flexible and market-oriented form of corporate organisation. Contrary to the beginning of reorganization when shareholder value-orientation had the effect of a catalyst for the introduction of direct participation, both orientations led to a dramatic reduction of long time compromises (between employers and employees) in the second half of the 1990s. The introduction of a more shareholder value-oriented governance has led to the completion of a market-centred mode of control, which has become the decisive binding element within a new configuration of management principles and industrial relations. This development is empirically examined in a study undertaken between 1993 and 2000 in 36 companies of the automobile, electronic, supplier and machine tool industry as well as in the data processing branch.     

Target Rules for Public Choice Economies on Tree Networks and in Euclidean Spaces

We consider the problem of choosing the location of a public facility either (a) on a tree network or (b) in a Euclidean space. (a) (1996) characterize the class of target rules on a tree network by Pareto efficiency and population-monotonicity. Using Vohra's (1999) characterization of rules that satisfy Pareto efficiency and replacement-domination, we give a short proof of the previous characterization and show that it also holds on the domain of symmetric preferences. (b) The result obtained for model (a) proves to be crucial for the analysis of the problem of choosing the location of a public facility in a Euclidean space. Our main result is the characterization of the class of coordinatewise target rules by unanimity, strategy-proofness, and either replacement-domination or population-monotonicity.     

Quota Schemes and the Assessment of Employment Handicap in Britain and West Germany

Government legislation, in the form of the Quota Scheme, has proved ineffective in improving the employment opportunities of disabled people in Great Britain and strenuous efforts have been made by the organisation responsible for its implementation–the Manpower Services Commission–to abolish it. In West Germany, however, most organisations employ their quota of disabled people, although this is set at 6%–double the level required of British employers. Is German legislation in this area really more effective? If so, why should this be? And what are the implications for policy in Great Britain?     

Social policy and forms of family life in Europe

This paper presents unpublished data from an international comparative research project. A ten-country study analysed change and diversity informs of private life during the 1980s in comparable age groups of women (women of young parental age and women at the start of the postparental phase). Changes in forms of private life and their international diversity make up the sociological background for demographic change. The scientific and political assumptions view demographic diversity in Europe as an expression of the simultaneity of the non-simultaneous, of a unidimensional trend in changes informs of private life as a result of the dissolution of the traditional family and the subsequent increase in such forms. We show that although Europeans have to deal with similar trends, they are framed by various national and cultural traditions and different social policy guiding principles and actions. Social policy profiles define various "normality weightings" for (prospective) parents'options. Of particular significance is how States differ in reconciling the demands of family and work. Differences in compatibility between family and professional life are exemplified by what Kaufmann (1990) calls the "structural lack of consideration" that politics and society have for the family.