The evaluation of force exertions and muscle activities when operating a manual guided vehicle

A manual guided vehicle (MGV) is used to handle heavy materials in thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) manufacturing clean rooms. This study focuses on evaluating the force exertions and muscle activities in MGV operations. The independent variables include gender, force direction, handle height, load handled and wheel diameter of the MGV. The results show the force direction, handle height and load handling effects are significant in most measures except for F(ending) (the peak force required to stop the MGV) and the EMG of the anterior deltoid. The wheel diameter had a significant effect on F(initial) (the peak force required to move the MGV) and F(ending) responses. Gender did not significantly effect any measures. Moreover, the pushing and pulling force is less at 115cm handle height than at 101.5cm and 88cm handle heights. Using 15.3cm (6 inch) diameter wheels requires less force than 20.3cm (8 inch) diameter wheels because the two front wheels are fixed and the two rear wheels are rotatable. The design implications are discussed.