engleski

An improved safety device for electric chainsaws

The chainsaw is a portable machine used for multi-purpose operations and can be used by professional and non-professional workers. Forestry and related tree operations represent one of the most hazardous working sectors of human activity. At the moment operations with chainsaws are conducted by all persons and are not solely restricted to professional lumberjacks. Serious or lethal lesions, due to the use of manual or electric chainsaws, are often encountered by emergency doctors or forensic pathologists. Such serious accidents often occur during occupational activities and are essentially due to kickback, uncorrected use of the tool and in case of lost implement control due to falling or slipping of the operator. We developed and adopted an innovative safety device able to stop an electric chainsaw when needed. The device is based on a Wiimote controller (Nintendo™) which includes two accelerometers and two gyroscopes for detection of rotation and inclination. A Bluetooth wireless technology is used to transfer data to a portable computer. Collected data about linear and angular acceleration are filtered by an algorithm based on the Euclid norm which differentiates between normal and dangerous chainsaw movements. The results showed a good response of the safety device which sent an alarm signal when a dangerous situation occurred in order to stop the cutting chain. The device demonstrated correct behavior in all tested dangerous situations. We encourage extending its use to chainsaws with combustion engine, as well as to other portable equipment used in agriculture and forestry operations. For these applications the safety device was also patented.

Safety; Chainsaw; Fatal injuries; Electronic device

nije evidentirano