• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.103-114
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• 2023

Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate hand-arm vibration (HAV) exposure levels due to the use of power hand tools and to evaluate the determinants in the automobile assembly process. Methods: The exposure level to HAV was evaluated for 30 work lines in five assembly processes (body, engine, chassis, door, and design) that use air-powered tools and battery-powered tools and operate in circulation for two hours. The 2-hr equivalent energy vibration acceleration, A (2), of the task was measured. The 8-hr equivalent energy vibration acceleration, A (8), was estimated in consideration of the number of tasks that can be performed per day by each process. In addition, a survey on the working environment was conducted with workers exposed to vibration. Results: The geometric mean of the HAV exposure level, A (2), for a total of 30 tasks was 2.51 m/s², and one case was 10.30 m/s², exceeding TLV (2hr). The HAV exposure level of A (8) was evaluated from 1.03 m/s² to 5.36 m/s². A (2) showed a statistically significant difference (P<0.01) for each process, and the chassis process (GM=3.90 m/s²) was the highest. The larger the tool size and the longer the tool length, the higher was the vibration acceleration when using a battery-powered tool than an air-powered tool (P<0.01). Battery-powered tool users showed higher dissatisfaction on all items than did air-powered tool users. Conclusions: As a result of this study, it is necessary to implement a program to reduce the HAV exposure levels.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.383-399
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• 2015

Today, as railways increase their capacity and speeds, it is more important than ever to be completely aware of the state of vehicles fleet's condition to ensure the highest quality and safety standards, as well as being able to maintain the costs as low as possible. Operation of a modern, dynamic and efficient railway demands a real time, accurate and reliable evaluation of the infrastructure assets, including signal networks and diagnostic systems able to acquire functional parameters. In the conventional system, measurement data are reliably collected using coaxial wires for communication between sensors and the repository. As sensors grow in size, the cost of the monitoring system can grow. Recently, auto-powered wireless sensor has been considered as an alternative tool for economical and accurate realization of structural health monitoring system, being provided by the following essential features: on-board micro-processor, sensing capability, wireless communication, auto-powered battery, and low cost. In this work, an original harvester device is designed to supply wireless sensor system battery using train bogie energy. Piezoelectric materials have in here considered due to their established ability to directly convert applied strain energy into usable electric energy and their relatively simple modelling into an integrated system. The mechanical and electrical properties of the system are studied according to the project specifications. The numerical formulation is implemented with in-house code using commercial software tool and then experimentally validated through a proof of concept setup using an excitation signal by a real application scenario.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.422-428
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• 1996

This study was conducted to developed to develop a simple battery-powered autonomous vehicle for greenhouse works. A steering method using speed difference of two independent driving motors was adopted. DC motor driving circuit, speed control circuit and controller using one-chip microcomputer were constructed. The inputs of controller are rolling of the vehicle and current speed of driving motors. Using these signals, automatic guidance system along furrow was developed. A computer simulation program by the kenematic analysis was developed to find out optimal control algorithm. The results of this study are as follows. 1. Automatic guidance system along the furrow that adopted two independent driving motors and rolling of vehicle was developed. 2. The results of simulation showed that PID control was adequate to automatic guidance system along furrow. 3. Two commercial 12V battery serially connected were able to drive the vehicle on the soil ground for five hours in continuous operation and for four hours in intermittent operation without recharging the battery. 4. The speed range was 0-0.7m/s and the rolling of vehicle could be controlled within $pm5^{\circ}$ range. 5. From a series of tests, developed vehicle was found to be a useful tool for greenhouse works.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.220-233
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• 2019

This work aims to study and analyze the various operating modes of universal power converter which is powered by solar and thermoelectric generators. The proposed converter is operated in a DC-DC (buck or boost mode) and DC-AC (single phase) inverter with high efficiency. DC power sources, such as solar photovoltaic (SPV) panels, thermoelectric generators (TEGs), and Li-ion battery, are selected as input to the proposed converter according to the nominal output voltage available/generated by these sources. The mode of selection and output power regulation are achieved via control of the metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) switches in the converter through the modified stepped perturb and observe (MSPO) algorithm. The MSPO duty cycle control algorithm effectively converts the unregulated DC power from the SPV/TEG into regulated DC for storing energy in a Li-ion battery or directly driving a DC load. In this work, the proposed power sources and converter are mathematically modelled using the Scilab-Xcos Simulink tool. The hardware prototype is designed for 200 W rating with a dsPIC30F4011 digital controller. The various output parameters, such as voltage ripple, current ripple, switching losses, and converter efficiency, are analyzed, and the proposed converter with a control circuit operates the converter closely at 97% efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.178-183
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• 2004

The main objective of the present study is to analyze the feasibility of fuel cell powered vehicle, which leads to carry out system design and performance analysis. The major design concepts which include battery, driving motor, and fuel cell module are analyzed and discussed for the future development. The traction power of fuel cell vehicle is calculated according to the driving courses specified. Further, the fuel cell stack is analyzed to determine the capacity of stack as a function of velocity for the appropriate power required.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.75-80
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• 2004

Feasibility of the small capacity fuel cell powered vehicle is carried out for system design with loading characteristics. The major design concepts which include battery, driving motor, and fuel cell module are analyzed and discussed for the future development. A load characteristics program is developed in order to calculate the traction power of fuel cell vehicle according to the driving courses specified. Further, the small capacity fuel cell vehicle is analyzed to determine the capacity of stack as a function of the velocity for an appropriate power required.

• Korean Journal of Rural Living Science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 1997

In this study we examined the greenhouse worker's work load to test the efficiency of the developed vehicles (hand operated vehicle (HV), simple battery-powered autonomous vehicle (AV)). The subject of this study were healthy adult females who had experience in growing crops. We measured workers' heart rate, blood Pressure. rectal temperature, mean skin temperature, oxygen consumption and blood lactate level as a physiological index of work load. The results of this study are as follows : The test group using experimental vehicle showed the lower heart rate (mean$\pm$S.D. for HV, AV respectively 74$\pm$5, 75$\pm$3 beats/min, p＜0.01) than the control group (84$\pm$8beat/min) not using experimental vehicle and the lower systolic blood Pressure (HV, AV respectively 109$\pm$8, 109$\pm$9 mmHg, p＜0.01) than the control group (121$\pm$11 mmHg), and lower rectal temperature(HV, AV respectively 37.0$\pm$0.1, 36.8$\pm$0.2$^{\circ}C$, p＜0.01) than the control group (37.0$\pm$0.2$^{\circ}C$), and the less oxygen consumption (HV, AV respectively 2.13$\pm$0.09, 1.66$\pm$0.52$m\ell$/kg/min, p＜0.01) than the control group(2.43$\pm$0.12$m\ell$/kg/min), and the lower blood lactate level (HV, AV respectively 2.03$\pm$1.00, 1.66$\pm$0.52mmol, p＜0.01) than the control group (2.43$\pm$0.12mmol). Judging from these results, these experimental vehicles for greenhouse workers can be confirmed as a useful tool. It is suggested that these vehicles would alleviate the peasant's syndrome including muscle fatigue and musculoskeletal disease usually caused by working in an uncomfortable posture.