Multijoint passive elastic spine exoskeleton for stoop lifting assistance

Jiyuan Song,Jiajun Zou,Aibin Zhu,Yao Tu

doi:10.1177/17298814211062033

Jiyuan Song, Jiajun Zou + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/17298814211062033

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Abstract

In the task of carrying heavy objects, it is easy to cause back injuries and other musculoskeletal diseases. Although wearable robots are designed to reduce this danger, most existing exoskeletons use high-stiffness mechanisms, which are beneficial to load-bearing conduction, but this restricts the natural movement of the human body, thereby causing ergonomic risks. This article proposes a back exoskeleton composed of multiple elastic spherical hinges inspired by the biological spine. This spine exoskeleton can assist in the process of bending the body and ensure flexibility. We deduced the kinematics model of this mechanism and established an analytical biomechanical model of human–robot interaction. The mechanism of joint assistance of the spine exoskeleton was discussed, and experiments were conducted to verify the flexibility of the spine exoskeleton and the effectiveness of the assistance during bending.

Highlights

Low-back pain (LBP) affects a large part of the working population
To protect the wearer’s back during handling tasks, this article proposes a back exoskeleton composed of multiple elastic spherical hinges inspired by the biological spine
The exoskeleton is composed of seven passive elastic joints connected end to end, which can ensure flexibility and provide assistance during the bending process of the human body

Summary

Introduction

Low-back pain (LBP) affects a large part of the working population. The compression force of the lumbosacral (L5/S1) joint has been identified as one of the most prominent risk factors for LBP.[1]. In the industrial field, a wide range of motion and versatility are required To overcome these limitations, we designed a rigid–flexible coupled passive bionic spine exoskeleton, performed a movement analysis on the exoskeleton spine, and studied the torque and tension changes of the joints of the exoskeleton spine during the bending motion of the human body. When the human body bends over and lifts a heavy object, the motion form of the vertebral body unit of the spinal exoskeleton is a combination of twisting and stretching.

Experiments and results

Design range of motion

Discussion and conclusions

Findings

Declaration of conflicting interests