The Biodynamics Laboratory is located on the campus of The Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio. It is comprised of over 3,500 square feet of laboratory space that can be configured to meet the demands of research.
The main laboratory space is an area where large-scale research projects can be undertaken. In the past, this area has been set-up as a warehouse to study jobs in the food distribution industry. Using the LMM risk model and the EMG-Assisted Lifting Model, the research focuses on preventing occupational injuries associated with warehouse job tasks, by taking real time data from experiments that reproduce workplace conditions.
The space has also been used to conduct upper extremity research. A simulated grocery store was configured with a wide variety of check stands and scanners. This enabled students to study the effects these configurations have on hand/wrist kinematics and cashiers’ risk of developing cumulative trauma disorders.
Originally designed and manufactured in the Biodynamics Lab, the Asymetric Reference Frame (ARF) is able to reproduce, measure and control motions job modeling has been able to advance static loading estimations.
Hand and wrist research also has been conducted in the Lab. Students have studied the effects of typing on different types of keyboards, using a variety of wrist dynamometers and fiber-optic finger monitors.
The Biodynamics Laboratory has a state-of-the-art computer facility available for research. The computer lab has 20 computers networked together with a Dell PowerEdge sc1420 Xeon file server. The server has 1 terabyte of storage space, tape and DVD backup, and is connected with one laser printer, one color printer, a scanner, and a slide maker. In addition, 5 portable data acquisition computers can gain access to the network via 47 ports throughout the laboratory. The multiple University mainframe computers as well as the University Super Computer can all be accessed from the laboratory.
The laboratory also includes a conference room featuring network access and a ceiling mounted projector for laptop presentations. Video-conferencing is made available through a dedicated system. A full library of field related materials is also available for lab use.
