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

描述(申请人提供)：坠落事故是职业伤害的最大和增长最快的来源之一。尽管滑倒导致了多起坠落事故，但在过去20年里，用于评估鞋子和地板表面光滑程度的技术一直相对停滞不前。现有滑移仪的一个主要局限性 在测试设备中不会复制在打滑过程中经历的鞋底情况。不同的试验条件改变了鞋-地界面的摩擦学相互作用，影响了摩擦系数的测量。此外，目前的测试方法只测量摩擦系数，不能提供足够的信息 建议特定人体工学干预的关键摩擦机制。这项研究的总体目标是开发一种滑移测试设备，该设备1)在测量摩擦时模拟人的滑移，2)提供关于鞋底相互作用的特定信息，可用于指导适当的干预。模拟人类滑动的基本原理是，在滑动过程中重建鞋子的加载条件将重现鞋-地板界面的摩擦学现象，并将导致更准确的摩擦测量；收集与摩擦学相互作用相关的更多数据将导致改进的人体工程学干预措施，从而减少滑动事故。该项目旨在通过三个具体目标为该设备建立概念验证。第一个具体目标是开发一种模拟人滑倒的鞋底条件的滑脱测试设备。将开发一种具有三个单独自由度的装置，分别控制垂直力、前后位移/速度和鞋角。传感器将同时测量垂直力、滑动速度和鞋角，并将其用于闭环反馈控制。该设备将使用PID控制来跟踪人滑倒的时间序列曲线。目标1.1将是 研制了该装置，使人体滑移数据与滑移试验数据的多重判定系数大于0.9。来自人类滑动的代表性数据将被用来展示该设备模拟各种滑动轮廓的能力。特定目标 #2将验证新型流体压力传感器的使用，以评估踏面在鞋-地板-污染物相互作用中的作用。已有研究表明，踏面不足会导致鞋底界面的动水压力较高，而鞋底摩擦系数较低。目标#2.1将量化流体动力压力，以便提供关于是否需要鞋面干预的反馈。两个假设被用来检验这项技术的有效性。假设2.1将检验流体所支持的力 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将评估该设备的可靠性和重复性。预计这项研究将是朝着开发一种设备的第一步，该设备是评估滑动的黄金标准，有助于确定减少滑动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.