Operator Biometric Load Correlation for Real-Time Work Appropriateness

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional systems for determining mental state appropriateness for operations face challenges due to large individual differences in biological information and variations in measurement conditions, making it difficult to accurately assess operator appropriateness in real-time.

Innovation Solution

An operation appropriateness determination system that uses a combination of authentication, biometric sensing, and signal processing to accumulate and compare biological data, learning the relationship between operation loads and biological reactions for each operator, thereby reducing individual differences and providing real-time feedback or alerts for improved accuracy.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If conventional systems use biological information to determine mental state, then operation appropriateness can be assessed, but individual differences cause large variations in measurement accuracy

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveoperation appropriateness determination accuracyVSAvoidindividual difference variability
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the parameter of biological information by selecting specific parameters (cerebral blood flow velocity, heart rate, respiratory rate) that are less susceptible to individual differences. It transforms raw biological data into standardized metrics that can be compared across different operators, thereby improving measurement precision while accounting for individual variability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary measurement and accumulation of biological information before actual operation appropriateness determination. By collecting baseline data during operation preparation phases and pre-operation periods, the system establishes reference values for each operator, enabling more accurate real-time assessment while compensating for individual differences.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If biological information is measured in real-time, then operation appropriateness can be monitored continuously, but measurement variations between operations reduce reliability

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveoperation appropriateness determination stabilityVSAvoidmeasurement time span
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDuration of action of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary measurements during operation preparation and accumulates biological information over extended periods before actual operations. This preliminary data collection phase establishes stable baseline values that reduce the impact of temporary fluctuations during actual operations, thereby improving reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system continuously accumulates biological information across multiple operations and time points, maintaining continuous monitoring rather than discrete measurements. This continuous accumulation of data over time allows the system to filter out temporary variations and establish more reliable patterns of operation appropriateness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Data Source

PatentEP3590426B1Work appropriateness determination system
Publication Date: 2024.04.10 PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO LTD
  • EP3590426B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP3590426B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP3590426B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3A

AI summary

An operation appropriateness determination system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an authentication apparatus that identifies an operator on a basis of a feature of the operator and that outputs information for identifying the operator, a biometric sensing apparatus that obtains biological information regarding the operator and that outputs the biological information, an operation sensing apparatus that detects a load of an operation that is being performed by the operator and that outputs operation information indicating the detected load of the operation, a storage device, and a signal processing apparatus. The signal processing apparatus accumulates, while the operator is performing the operation, the information for identifying the operator, the biological information, the operation information, and time information in the storage device while associating the information for identifying the operator, the biological information, the operation information, and the time information with one another, estimates the biological information regarding the operator at a present time on a basis of a correlation between temporal changes in the operation information and temporal changes in the biological information in past accumulated in the storage device, and determines appropriateness of the operator for the operation by comparing the estimated biological information regarding the operator at the present time and the biological information regarding the operator at the present time obtained by the biometric sensing apparatus with each other.