Subjective Evaluation of a Passive Lower-Limb Industrial Exoskeleton Used During simulated Assembly

Luger, Tessy; Cobb, Timothy J.; Seibt, Robert; Rieger, Monika A.; Steinhilber, Benjamin

doi:10.1080/24725838.2018.1560376

Cited by 39 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Shoulder assist and supernumerary (nonanthropomorphic) arm tool holding support exoskeletons are used to support the upper extremities during sustained overhead work or to assist in holding heavy tools . Leg assist devices provide augmentation to the hip, knee, or ankle joint in simple locomotion or while carrying a load, or serve as an alternative to a chair for relief of prolonged standing …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Industrial exoskeletons: Need for intervention effectiveness research

Howard

Murashov

Lowe

et al. 2019

American J Industrial Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Exoskeleton devices are being introduced across several industry sectors to augment, amplify, or reinforce the performance of a worker's existing body components-primarily the lower back and the upper extremity. Industrial exoskeletons may play a role in reducing work-related musculoskeletal disorders arising from lifting and handling heavy materials or from supporting heavy tools in overhead work. However, wearing an exoskeleton may pose a number of risks that are currently not well-studied. There are only a few studies about the safety and health implications of wearable exoskeletons and most of those studies involve only a small number of participants. Before the widespread implementation of industrial exoskeletons occurs, there is need for prospective interventional studies to evaluate the safety and health effectiveness of exoskeletons across various industry sectors. Developing a research strategy to fill current safety and health knowledge gaps, understanding the benefits, risks, and barriers to adoption of industrial exoskeletons, determining whether exoskeleton can be considered a type of personal protective equipment, and advancing consensus standards that address exoskeleton safety, should be major interests of both the occupational safety and health research and practice communities. K E Y W O R D S exoskeleton, human augmentation, intervention effectiveness, PPE

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Industrial exoskeletons: Need for intervention effectiveness research

Howard

Murashov

Lowe

et al. 2019

American J Industrial Med

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These aspects were also highlighted by Hensel and Keil (2019), in that discomfort was strongly and inversely associated with user acceptance, and by Marino (2019), in that workers reported concerns about movement quality, task performance, and comfort. Comfort (and discomfort) was also emphasized by Luger, Cobb, Seibt, Rieger, and Steinhilber (2019) in this issue. Although completed in a laboratory, their study examined how comfort and discomfort are affected by the use of a passive lower-limb exoskeleton during a simulated assembly task with different task configurations.…”

Section: The Presentmentioning

confidence: 87%

An Introduction to the Special Issue on Occupational Exoskeletons

Nussbaum

Lowe

Looze

et al. 2019

IISE Transactions on Occupational Ergonomics and Human Factors

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The study included three experiments of which two are reported in this paper. The third experiment was a simulated manual task with the main focus on quantifying exoskeleton induced changes in physical load, body postures, postural stability, and perceived discomfort (Luger et al, 2019a(Luger et al, , 2019b). In the current study, the two remaining experiments addressing postural stability are reported.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postural Control When Using an Industrial Lower Limb Exoskeleton: Impact of Reaching for a Working Tool and External Perturbation

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective To investigate postural control related to a lower limb exoskeleton (Chairless Chair) when (a) reaching for a working tool, and (b) an external perturbation occurs. Background Lower limb exoskeletons aiming to reduce physical load associated with prolonged standing may impair workers’ postural control and increase the risk of falling. Method Forty-five males were reaching for an object (3-kg dumbbell) at the lateral end of their reaching area without the exoskeleton in upright standing (STAND) and with the exoskeleton at a high (EXOHIGH.SEAT) and low sitting position (EXOLOW.SEAT). The task was performed with the object placed in three different angles (120°, 150°, and 180°) in the transversal plane. The minimum absolute static postural stability (SSABS.MIN) as the shortest distance (mm) of the center of pressure to the base of support border was measured (zero indicates risk of falling). Additionally, eight subjects were standing without the exoskeleton or sitting on it (EXOHIGH.SEAT and EXOLOW.SEAT) while being pulled backward. The tilting moment when subjects lost their balance was assessed. Results SSABS.MIN was lower when using the exoskeleton ( p < .05) but still about 17 mm. The location of the object to be reached had no influence. Tilting moments of less than 30 nm were sufficient to let people fall backward when sitting on the exoskeleton (50 nm for STAND). Conclusion Impairments in postural control by the exoskeleton may not be relevant when reaching laterally for objects up to 3 kg. When an external perturbation occurs, the risk of falling may be much higher; irrespective of factors like uneven or slippery flooring. Application The risk of falling using the exoskeleton seems to be low when reaching laterally for an object of up to 3 kg. In situations where, for example, a collision with coworkers is likely, this exoskeleton is not recommended.

show abstract

Subjective Evaluation of a Passive Lower-Limb Industrial Exoskeleton Used During simulated Assembly

Cited by 39 publications

References 23 publications

Industrial exoskeletons: Need for intervention effectiveness research

Industrial exoskeletons: Need for intervention effectiveness research

An Introduction to the Special Issue on Occupational Exoskeletons

Postural Control When Using an Industrial Lower Limb Exoskeleton: Impact of Reaching for a Working Tool and External Perturbation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About