A customized system for whole-body vibration measurement
for testing operator seat vibration in earth moving machinery. In the time domain, accelerometers in the custom WBV instrumentation system exhibited ≤ 2.21% error in root-mean-square (RMS) amplitude measurements and < 0.03 g sample-to-sample RMS deviation from the reference accelerometers. Frequency-domain analysis (1/3-octave band) suggested slight underestimation of signal power at low frequencies (≤10 Hz), but the differences were practically small at each 1/3-octave band. Ultimately, the system will enable WBV monitoring in settings in which operators are remote and/or the schedule of machine operation is variable (e.g., agriculture). Future work will focus on real-world validation and exploring use of the force sensing resistors to characterize operator posture, further enhancing the system's utility in occupational WBV exposure monitoring.
Authors
- Oliver Stroh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3502-9527)
- Nathan B. Fethke
- Yash Kumar Dhabi
- David G. Wilder
- Brian Fiegel
- Geb Thomas
- Salam Rahmatalla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3889-4364)
- Elizabeth M. Ritchie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5159-4783)
- Adam Ramker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5899-4464)
Institutions
- University of Iowa (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
- Published
- 2026-05-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2026.2659859
- Primary Topic
- Effects of Vibration on Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health