Design and Evaluation of a Passive Cable-Driven Occupational Shoulder Exoskeleton

Rossini, Marco; Bock, Sander De; Have, Arthur van der; Flynn, Louis; Rodriguez-Cianca, David; Pauw, Kevin De; Lefeber, Dirk; Geeroms, Joost; Rodriguez–Guerrero, Carlos

doi:10.1109/tmrb.2021.3110679

Cited by 24 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Fig. 1a shows the passive cable-driven shoulder exoskeleton, Exo4Work, evaluated in this experiment [10]. The device weighs 3.8 kg and has 6 degrees of freedom incorporated, as illustrated in Fig.…”

Section: A Exo4work: a Passive And Cable-driven Shoulder Exoskeletonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, a low-assistance zone between 0 and 35 • is generated by the pRAS to prevent the exoskeleton from delivering unwanted assistance while walking or working at lower heights. Rossini et al [10] a priori determined that the arm's gravitational torque around the shoulder approximates 9 Nm, using the 50 th percentile of the anthropometric data of a male [43], [44], [45], and the 95 th percentile of the shoulder and elbow kinematics of overhead work [46]. The assistance of the shoulder exoskeleton was set to provide up to one third of the arm's gravitational torque (i.e.…”

Section: A Exo4work: a Passive And Cable-driven Shoulder Exoskeletonmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides changes in muscle activity, anterior deltoid muscle fatigue reduced and reductions up to 19 and 33% were reported for heart rate and oxygen uptake, respectively, during continuous overhead work [31], [32], [33]. [10].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In our previous work [10], [41], the design and validation of a passive and cable-driven occupational shoulder exoskeleton, Exo4Work, was presented. The kinematic structure of Exo4Work was proven to be compatible with the motion of the human arm [41].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The kinematic structure of Exo4Work was proven to be compatible with the motion of the human arm [41]. Moreover, the potential beneficial effect of a low assistance provided to the exoskeleton user was preliminarily investigated [10]. A low assistance may potentially avoid the increased muscle activity observed in muscles working against the assistance of the exoskeleton (e.g.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Occupational Shoulder Exoskeleton Reduces Muscle Activity and Fatigue During Overhead Work

Bock

Rossini

Lefeber

et al. 2022

IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng.

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Objective. This paper assesses the effect of a passive shoulder exoskeleton prototype, Exo4Work, on muscle activity, muscle fatigue and subjective experience during simulated occupational overhead and non-overhead work. Methods. Twenty-two healthy males performed six simulated industrial tasks with and without Exo4Work exoskeleton in a randomized counterbalanced cross-over design. During these tasks electromyography, heart rate, metabolic cost, subjective parameters and performance parameters were acquired. The effect of the exoskeleton and the body side on these parameters was investigated. Results. Anterior deltoid activity and fatigue reduced up to 16% and 41%, respectively, during isometric overhead work, and minimized hindrance of the device during nonoverhead tasks. Wearing the exoskeleton increased feelings of frustration and increased discomfort in the areas where the exoskeleton and the body interfaced. The assistive effect of the exoskeleton was less prominent during dynamic tasks. Conclusion. This exoskeleton may reduce muscle activity and delay development of muscle fatigue in an overhead working scenario. For dynamic applications, the exoskeleton's assistive profile, which mimics the gravitational torque of the arm, is potentially sub-optimal. Significance. This evaluation paper is the first to report reduced muscle fatigue and activity when working with an occupational shoulder exoskeleton providing one third of the gravitational torque of the arm during overhead work. These results stress the potential of occupational shoulder exoskeletons in overhead working situations and may direct towards longitudinal field experiments. Additionally, this experiment may stimulate future work to further investigate the effect of different assistive profiles.

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Section: A Exo4work: a Passive And Cable-driven Shoulder Exoskeletonmentioning

confidence: 99%