영상처리를 이용한 반복적 작업의 측정에 관한 연구

A Study on Measurement of Repetitive Work using Digital Image Processing

Previous work measurement methods need much time and effort of time study analysts because they have to measure required time through direct observations. In this study, we propose a method which efficiently measures standard times without involvement of human analysts using digital image processing techniques. This method consists of two main steps: motion representation step and cycle segmentation step. In motion representation step, we first detect the motion of any object distinct from its background by differencing two consecutive images separated by a constant time interval. The images thus obtained then pass through an edge detector filter. Finally, the mean values of coordinates of significant pixels of the edge image are obtained. Through these processes, the motions of the observed worker are represented by two time series data of worker location in horizontal and vertical axes. In the second step, called the cycle segmentation step, we extract the frames which have maximum or minimum coordinates in one cycle and store them in a stack, and calculate each cycle time using these frames. In this step we also consider methods on how to detect work delays due to unexpected events such as operator's escapement from the work area, or interruptions. To condude, the experimental results show that the proposed method is very cost-effective and useful for measuring time standards for various work environment.