Abstract
In this paper, an experimental evaluation of an active upper-limb exoskeleton, where 12 subjects perform an overhead industrial task with and without the exoskeleton, is presented. The experimental laboratory test has been carried out to analyze the advantages of wearing the exoskeleton to carry out repetitive industrial tasks, assessing whether the proposed device reduces metabolic parameters and the muscular strain. The set of metrics to assess the effects of the exoskeleton included biomechanical parameters, such as electromyographic signals, and metabolic parameters, such as heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory frequency, tidal volume, ventilation and oxygen consumption. The results show that the developed active upper-limb exoskeleton can reduce cardiorespiratory responses and muscular activity. In addition, statistical data analysis shows significant differences in oxygen consumption, heart rate and effort supported by muscles between conditions (when handling a load of 1.7 kg with and without the exoskeleton). It is observed that, wearing the exoskeleton reduces oxygen consumption by more than 24%, the heart rate decreases by 14%, and muscle activity is reduced by almost 37% in triceps and up to 64% in biceps compare to no wearing. Based on these results, the presented active upper-limb exoskeleton could be potentially useful to reduce muscular strain and fatigue in repetitive overhead tasks.
Highlights
W ORK-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs), especially when they become chronic, are highly prevalent and costly in industrialized countries, constituting one of the leading causes of absenteeism worldwide [1]
Quantifying the results, we can affirm that the proposed upper-limb exoskeleton reduces muscle activity by 36.76% in the muscle that has undergone the least changes during the study, the triceps, and the reduction increases to 63.5% in the case of the biceps
The results suggest that the only condition that implies a higher metabolic consumption is the one in which the drill is lifted without using the exoskeleton (NE-Load)
Summary
W ORK-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs), especially when they become chronic, are highly prevalent and costly in industrialized countries, constituting one of the leading causes of absenteeism worldwide [1]. They are related to physical exposure or poor ergonomics in the workplace, and cause the sufferer to impact significantly the personal, social and economic spheres [2]. The main objective of industrial-type exoskeletons is to support operators at their workstation, reducing the physical fatigue and discomfort produced by performing repetitive A possible solution could be the incorporation in the industry of exoskeletons, combining robotics with the human factor, a trend known as Operator 4.0 inside the Industry 4.0 framework, which considers technology augmented workers [6], [7].
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