Using a High Resolution Motion Capture System to Determine 6-DOF Whole-Body Vibration Accelerations

Abstract

Comprehensive investigations of the human response to vibration require many markers, accelerometers, and electrodes. The use of multiple measurement systems can result in time intensive subject preparation, large memory requirements for data storage and processing, skin motion artifacts, and subject encumbrance. The purpose of this study was to determine if a VICON™ motion capture system could reliably and accurately measure translational and rotational acceleration levels produced by mobile machines, thereby eliminating the need for accelerometers and potentially minimizing the aforementioned problems. Simulating these vibration exposures in a laboratory, it was found that translational displacements ≥ 0.1 mm produced absolute peak and RMS average acceleration measurement differences less than 5% between the VICON™ system and an accelerometer. The absolute peak and RMS rotational accelerations determined by the VICON™ system and those produced by a PRSCO™ hexapodrobot differed by 5.44 ± 3.87% and 3.57 ± 2.44% respectively. Accounting for the vibration attenuation of the human body, the VICON™ system also appears well suited for determining 6-DOF acceleration levels in laboratory seat-to-head vibration transmission studies.