Assessment of Comfort Variation among Different Types of Driving Agricultural Tractors: Traditional, Satellite-Assisted and Semi-Automatic

Elio Romano, Carlo Bisaglia, Aldo Calcante, Roberto Oberti, Alberto Zani, Denis Vinnikov, Andrea Marconi, Ermanno Vitale, Massimo Bracci and Venerando Rapisarda
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Elio Romano: Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Engineering and Agro-Food Processing, 24047 Treviglio, Italy
Carlo Bisaglia: Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Engineering and Agro-Food Processing, 24047 Treviglio, Italy
Aldo Calcante: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences-Production, Landscape, Agroenergy, Università di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
Roberto Oberti: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences-Production, Landscape, Agroenergy, Università di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
Alberto Zani: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences-Production, Landscape, Agroenergy, Università di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
Denis Vinnikov: Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Evidence-based Medicine, al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty 050040, Kazakhstan
Andrea Marconi: Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Ermanno Vitale: Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Massimo Bracci: Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60126 Ancona, Italy
Venerando Rapisarda: Occupational Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 23, 1-17

Abstract: Over the past years, in the agricultural field, geo-localization has been introduced in order to develop specific farming processes, optimize resources, and reduce environmental pollution. Researchers have found alternative driving methods to traditional ones, such as assisted and semi-automatic driving. The aim of this study was to monitor the musculoskeletal efforts necessary to carry out different kinds of driving. The muscular strain was assessed using surface electromyographic devices, the distribution of the pressure exerted by the operator’s body on the seat was observed by using two barometric pads applied on the seat back and on the seat, respectively, while the body movements and postures were analyzed through a Microsoft Kinect Camera 3D acquisition system. Results showed a significantly greater muscular activation during manual and assisted driving conditions. The pressure exerted by the operator on the barometric pads was significantly higher in manual and semi-automatic driving modes than in the assisted one. A remarkable increase in the average swinging speed of examined joints was also detected, as well as the distances run by the joints in semi-automatic driving. From our study, assisted driving seems to be the best driving mode both in terms of joint economy and from the efficiency of agricultural processes.

Keywords: comfort evaluation; electromyography; pressure sensors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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