Biofidelic Slip-Testing Device for Measuring & Analyzing Shoe-Floor Friction

描述（由申请人提供）：坠落事故是最大和增长最快的职业伤害来源之一。尽管滑倒代表了所有跌倒事故的多个方面，但用于评估鞋和地板表面光滑度的技术在过去二十年中仍然相对停滞。现有滑动测试仪的主要局限性 在测试装置中不再现在滑动期间经历的鞋下条件。不同的测试条件改变了鞋-地板界面处的摩擦相互作用，并影响摩擦系数的测量。此外，当前的测试方法仅测量摩擦系数值，其不能提供关于摩擦系数的足够信息。 关键的摩擦机制，以建议一个特定的人体工程学干预。本研究的总体目标是开发一种滑动测试装置，该装置1）在测量摩擦力时模仿人类滑动，2）提供有关鞋-地板相互作用的具体信息，可用于指导适当的干预。模仿人类滑倒的基本原理是，在滑倒期间重新创建鞋的负载条件将再现鞋-地板界面处的摩擦学现象，并将导致更准确的摩擦测量;并且收集与摩擦学相互作用相关的额外数据将导致改善人体工程学干预，从而减少滑倒事故。该项目旨在通过三个具体目标为该器械建立概念验证。具体目标#1是开发一种模拟人类滑倒的鞋下条件的滑倒测试装置。将开发一种具有三个独立自由度的器械，以单独控制垂直力、前/后位移/速度和鞋角。传感器将同时测量垂直力，滑动速度和鞋的角度，这将用于闭环反馈控制。该设备将使用PID控制来跟踪人类滑倒的时间序列曲线。目标#1.1是 研制该装置，使人滑数据与滑试验数据之间的多重测定系数大于0.9。将使用来自人体滑动的代表性数据来证明器械模拟各种滑动轮廓的能力。具体目标 #2将验证新型流体压力传感器的使用，以评估鞋底-地板-污染物相互作用中胎面的作用。已经证明，不适当的胎面会导致鞋-地板界面中的较高流体动力学压力和较低的鞋-地板摩擦系数。目标#2.1将量化流体动力学压力，以便提供关于是否需要进行鞋底踏面干预的反馈。两个假设被用来测试这种技术的有效性。假设2.1将测试流体所支持的力是否 与摩擦系数有关，假设2.2将测试胎面是否影响流体系数。具体目标#3将评估器械的可靠性和再现性。这项研究有望成为开发一种设备的第一步，该设备是评估打滑的黄金标准，并有助于确定减少滑倒事故的最佳干预措施。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Falling accidents are among the largest and fastest growing sources of occupational injuries. Despite slips representing a plurality of all falling accidents, the technology used to assess the slipperiness of shoe and floor surfaces has remained relatively stagnant over the past two decades. A major limitation in existing slip-testers is that the under-shoe conditions that are experienced during slipping are not replicated in the testing device. Different testing conditions alter the tribological interaction at the shoe-floor interface and affect the coefficient of friction measurement. In addition, current testing methods only measure the coefficient of friction value, which does not provide sufficient information about the critical frictional mechanism to suggest a specific ergonomic intervention. The overall objective of this research is to develop a slip-testing apparatus that 1) mimics a human slip while measuring friction and 2) provides specific information on the shoe-floor interaction that can be used to guide the appropriate intervention. The rationale for mimicking the human slip is that recreating the loading conditions of the shoe during a slip will reproduce the tribological phenomenon at the shoe-floor interface and will lead to more accurate friction measurements; and that collecting additional data related to the tribological interaction will lead to improved ergonomic interventions that reduce slipping accidents. This project aims to establish proof-of-concept for this device through three specific aims. Specific Aim #1 is to develop a slip-testing device that mimics the under-shoe conditions of a human slip. A device will be developed with three individual degrees of freedom to individually control vertical force, anterior/posterior displacement/velocity and shoe angle. Sensors will simultaneously measure vertical force, sliding speed and shoe angle, which will be used in the closed-loop feedback control. The device will use PID control to track time-series profiles of human slips. Objective #1.1 will be to develop the device so that the coefficient of multiple determinations between human slipping data and the slip-testing data is greater than 0.9. Representative data from human slips will be used to demonstrate the ability of the device to mimic a variety of slipping profiles. Specific Aim #2 will validate the use of novel fluid pressure sensors to assess the role of tread on the shoe-floor-contaminant interaction. Inadequate tread has been demonstrated to lead to higher hydrodynamic pressures in the shoe-floor interface and lower shoe-floor coefficient of friction. Objective #2.1 will be to quantify the hydrodynamic pressures in order to provide feedback regarding whether a shoe tread intervention is necessary. Two hypotheses are used to test the effectiveness of this technology. Hypothesis 2.1 will test whether the force supported by the fluid is related to friction coefficient and Hypothesis 2.2 will test whether tread affects the fluid coefficient. Specific Aim #3 will be to assess reliability and reproducibility of the device. This research is expected to be a first step towards developing a device that is the gold standard in assessing slipperiness and that is useful for identifying optimal interventions for reducing slipping accidents.