No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Reality-Based Laboratory for Exoskeleton Studies in Logistics
Abstract
The exoskeleton technology is discussed as a promising approach in order to relieve physical work in logistics and thereby contribute to health prevention. In recent years, several models have come onto the market that are designed to support specific manual activities. However, especially the work in logistics is characterized by changing activities that cause different physical strains. An exoskeleton test center is being set up at Fraunhofer IML to investigate the effect of exoskeletons in realistic workplaces under laboratory conditions. In a logistics course consisting of typical main and secondary activities of logistics workers, exoskeletons of different categories will be compared in participant studies. Objective and subjective methods are used to analyze movement behavior and performance effects as well as to determine user impression. In a preliminary study, two participants tested a powered exoskeleton over a four-week period in a selected area of the logistics course while their movements were analyzed with motion capturing. The findings will be used to design the planned studies with a larger study sample. After evaluation of the exoskeleton test center and the experimental design, it can be used by future users as well as for exoskeleton manufacturers.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
The objective of this study was to assess the effect of a passive trunk exoskeleton on functional performance for various work related tasks in healthy individuals.
18 healthy men performed 12 tasks. Functional performance in each task was assessed based on objective outcome measures and subjectively in terms of perceived task difficulty, local and general discomfort.
Wearing the exoskeleton tended to increase objective performance in static forward bending, but decreased performance in tasks, such as walking, carrying and ladder climbing. A significant decrease was found in perceived task difficulty and local discomfort in the back in static forward bending, but a significant increase of perceived difficulty in several other tasks, like walking, squatting and wide standing. Especially tasks that involved hip flexion were perceived more difficult with the exoskeleton.
Design improvements should include provisions to allow full range of motion of hips and trunk to increase versatility and user acceptance.
Stress is a complex phenomenon that impacts the body and the mind at several levels. It has been studied for more than a century from different perspectives, which result in different definitions and different ways to assess the presence of stress. This paper introduces a methodology for analyzing multimodal stress detection results by taking into account the variety of stress assessments. As a first step, we have collected video, depth and physiological data from 25 subjects in a stressful situation: a socially evaluated mental arithmetic test. As a second step, we have acquired 3 different assessments of stress: self-assessment, assessments from external observers and assessment from a physiology expert. Finally, we extract 101 behavioural and physiological features and evaluate their predictive power for the 3 collected assessments using a classification task. Using multimodal features, we obtain average F1 scores up to 0.85. By investigating the composition of the best selected feature subsets and the individual feature classification performances, we show that several features provide valuable information for the classification of the 3 assessments: features related to body movement, blood volume pulse and heart rate. From a methodological point of view, we argue that a multiple assessment approach provide more robust results.
The aim of this review was to provide an overview of assistive exoskeletons that have specifically been developed for industrial purposes and to assess the potential effect of these exoskeletons on reduction of physical loading on the body. The search resulted in 40 papers describing 26 different industrial exoskeletons, of which 19 were active (actuated) and 7 were passive (non-actuated). For 13 exoskeletons, the effect on physical loading has been evaluated, mainly in terms of muscle activity. All passive exoskeletons retrieved were aimed to support the low back. Ten-forty per cent reductions in back muscle activity during dynamic lifting and static holding have been reported. Both lower body, trunk and upper body regions could benefit from active exoskeletons. Muscle activity reductions up to 80% have been reported as an effect of active exoskeletons. Exoskeletons have the potential to considerably reduce the underlying factors associated with work-related musculoskeletal injury. Practitioner Summary: Worldwide, a significant interest in industrial exoskeletons does exist, but a lack of specific safety standards and several technical issues hinder mainstay practical use of exoskeletons in industry. Specific issues include discomfort (for passive and active exoskeletons), weight of device, alignment with human anatomy and kinematics, and detection of human intention to enable smooth movement (for active exoskeletons).
An end-user questionnaire to measure user experience quickly in a simple and immediate way while covering a preferably comprehensive impression of the product user experience was the goal of the reported construction process. An empirical approach for the item selection was used to ensure practical relevance of items. Usability experts collected terms and statements on user experience and usability, including ‘hard’ as well as ‘soft’ aspects. These statements were consolidated and transformed into a first questionnaire version containing 80 bipolar items. It was used to measure the user experience of software products in several empirical studies. Data were subjected to a factor analysis which resulted in the construction of a 26 item questionnaire including the six factors Attractiveness, Perspicuity, Efficiency, Dependability, Stimulation, and Novelty. Studies conducted for the original German questionnaire and an English version indicate a satisfactory level of reliability and construct validity.
Leitlinienniveau und beteiligte Fachgesellschaften: Bei der Leitlinie handelt es sich um eine Leitlinie der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften e.V., AWMF) mit dem Niveau S2k. Die formalen Kriterien dafür sind eine für den Adressatenkreis repräsentative Leitliniengruppe und eine strukturierte Konsensusfindung (Version 1.1 vom 27.03.2013, AWMF Regelwerk 2013). Federführende Fachgesellschaft ist die Deutsche Gesellschaft für Arbeitsmedizin und Umweltmedizin e.V. unter Beteiligung der Gesellschaft für Arbeitswissenschaft e.V., Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurologie e.V., Deutsche Gesellschaft für Orthopädie und Orthopädische Chirurgie e.V., Deutsche Gesellschaft für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie e.V., Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sozialmedizin und Prävention e.V., Deutsche Schmerzgesellschaft e.V.
In logistical processes such as palletising and order picking, musculoskeletal disorders increase. As part of the INNOVATIONSLABOR research project, the latest model of a passive exoskeleton manufactured by LAEVO was investigated in a laboratory study. A final sample of N = 37 persons (73% men) from 20 to 64 years of age evaluated the exoskeleton regarding general comfort, local comfort in different body parts, handling characteristics such as adjustment possibilities, freedom of movement, efficiency, task support and task impairment with validated questionnaires. The analyses show that passive exoskeletons seem to have potential for static activities, but their wearing comfort and user handling should be further developed.
Surgery is a particularly potent stressor and the detrimental effects of stress on people undergoing any surgery is indisputable. When left unchecked, the pre-surgery stress adversely impacts people's physical and psychological well-being, and may even evolve into severe pathological states. Therefore, it is essential to identify levels of preoperative stress in surgical patients. This paper focuses on developing an automatic pre-surgery stress detection scheme based on electrodermal activity (EDA). The measurement set up involves a wrist wearable that monitors EDA of a subject continuously in the most non-invasive and unobtrusive manner. Data were collected from 41 subjects [17 females and 24 males, age: 54.8
16.8 years (mean
SD)], who subsequently underwent different surgical procedures at the Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, Coimbatore, India. A supervised machine learning algorithm that detects motion artifacts in the recorded EDA data was developed. It yielded an accuracy of 97.83% on a new user dataset. The clean EDA data were further analyzed to determine low, moderate, and high levels of stress. A novel localized supervised learning scheme based on the adaptive partitioning of the dataset was adopted for stress detection. Consequently, the interindividual variability in the EDA due to person-specific factors such as the sweat gland density and skin thickness, which may lead to erroneous classification, could be eliminated. The scheme yielded a classification accuracy of 85.06% on a new user dataset and proved to be more effective than the general supervised classification model.
Order picking is a standard task in logistics that is difficult to fully automate due to the variety of products. A passive exoskeleton can therefore be a strategy to support the order picker. This field study investigated the effect on muscle activity and posture of the back and shoulders.
Use of exoskeletal vests (designed to support overhead work) can be an effective intervention approach for tasks involving arm elevation, yet little is known on the potential beneficial impacts of their use on physical demands and task performance. This laboratory study (n = 12) evaluated the effects of a prototype exoskeletal vest during simulated repetitive overhead drilling and light assembly tasks. Anticipated or expected benefits were assessed, in terms of perceived discomfort, shoulder muscle activity, and task performance. Using the exoskeletal vest did not substantially influence perceived discomfort, but did decrease normalized shoulder muscle activity levels (e.g., ≤ 45% reduction in peak activity). Drilling task completion time decreased by nearly 20% with the vest, but the number of errors increased. Overall, exoskeletal vest use has the potential to be a new intervention for work requiring arm elevation; however, additional investigations are needed regarding potential unexpected or adverse influences (see Part II).
Research on robotic exoskeletons has rapidly expanded over the previous decade. Advances in robotic hardware and energy supplies have enabled viable prototypes for human testing. This review paper describes current lower limb robotic exoskeletons, with specific regard to common trends in the field. The preponderance of published literature lacks rigorous quantitative evaluations of exoskeleton performance, making it difficult to determine the disadvantages and drawbacks of many of the devices. We analyzed common approaches in exoskeleton design and the convergence, or lack thereof, with certain technologies. We focused on actuators, sensors, energy sources, materials, and control strategies. One of the largest hurdles to be overcome in exoskeleton research is the user interface and control. More intuitive and flexible user interfaces are needed to increase the success of robotic exoskeletons. In the last section, we discuss promising future solutions to the major hurdles in exoskeleton control. A number of emerging technologies could deliver substantial advantages to existing and future exoskeleton designs. We conclude with a listing of the advantages and disadvantages of the emerging technologies and discuss possible futures for the field.
The results of a multi-year research program to identify the factors associated with variations in subjective workload within and between different types of tasks are reviewed. Subjective evaluations of 10 workload-related factors were obtained from 16 different experiments. The experimental tasks included simple cognitive and manual control tasks, complex laboratory and supervisory control tasks, and aircraft simulation. Task-, behavior-, and subject-related correlates of subjective workload experiences varied as a function of difficulty manipulations within experiments, different sources of workload between experiments, and individual differences in workload definition. A multi-dimensional rating scale is proposed in which information about the magnitude and sources of six workload-related factors are combined to derive a sensitive and reliable estimate of workload.
Exoskeletons for industrial application and their potential effects on physical workload
- M P De Looze
- T Bosch
- F Krause
- K S Stadler
- L W Sullivan
- MP de Looze
Ergonomieunterstützung in der Logistik -Industrieller Einsatz von Exoskeletten an Palettier- und Kommissionierarbeitsplätzen zur körperlichen Entlastung von Mitarbeitern
- N Bednorz
- S Kinne
- V Kretschmer
Anwendung von passiven Exoskeletten in der Intralogistik - Ergebnisse und Tendenzen aus ersten Piloteinsätzen
- H Schulz
- N Bednorz
- P Lückmann
- S Hauser
Effectiveness in cognitive task performance under time pressure and elevated ambient temperature
- P Bröde
- G Rinkenauer
- W Jaschinski
- M Schütte