Insights into evaluating and using industrial exoskeletons: Summary report, guideline, and lessons learned from the interdisciplinary project “Exo@Work”

Abstract

Industrial exoskeletons represent a future-oriented technology for physically supporting humans during work. Especially in industrial workplaces, exoskeletons offer the potential for preventing musculoskeletal disorders and, thus, improving ergonomics since many workplaces and processes continually require a high proportion of demanding manual activities. Despite the number of available systems and the demand for personal support, exoskeletons have still not reached widespread adoption and regular application in occupational workplaces. In addition to the modest acceptance and usability, experts especially criticize the rare evidence of effective benefits of exoskeletons. The project “Exo@Work” examined evaluation approaches for exoskeletons in the industrial working world pursuing a mixed-methods strategy and three heterogeneous strands: (A) semi-structured interviews with experts (n = 18), (B) study-based workplace investigations with students and industrial workers (n = 78) using fourteen qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods as well as 17 exoskeletons, and (C) a questionnaire study on acceptance and usability with industrial workers (n = 33). The results reveal various support effects of different active and passive exoskeletons as well as several influencing factors for acceptance and usability. The findings flowed into a guideline with recommendations for practitioners as a prospective basis for evaluating and using exoskeletons in a targeted manner and promoting their widespread use in the industry.