An experimentation of hand–arm tremor control using low-g area-changed capacitive micro-accelerometer

Abstract

This paper aims to measure the human hand tremor caused by handheld device using a low-g micro-accelerometer. A novel low-g area-changed differential capacitive micro-accelerometer is designed and analyzed using microproduct design software INTELLISUITE 8.6. Thermo-electro-mechanical analysis is conducted for applied acceleration within the low-g range spans between 0 and 10 g. Existing design performances such as displacement and sensitivity are compared with new proposed design. The sensitivity of micro-accelerometer is improved by using U-shaped spring. The designed micro-accelerometer is used to find vibration that exists while using handheld device. Experimentation is done to measure vibration under dissimilar surfaces. The workers are made to drill three different surface blocks namely paver block, solid cement block, and black stone, and vibrations produced are recorded. These accelerations are intended to calculate exposure action value (EAV) and exposure limit value (ELV) for 8 hours of a working day so that worker can halt the work as soon as ELV is accomplished.