Lifting and Carrying: Do We Need Back-Support Exoskeleton Versatility?

Abstract

In recent years, back-support exoskeletons have shown potential to mitigate the ergonomic risk associated with lifting activities. In addition to lifting, carrying is known to represent a risk for the workers. In this work, we elaborate on the effects of an active back-support exoskeleton (XoTrunk) assisting with carrying activities, using the same control strategy adopted in lifting-assistance. The results show that for most of the users (7 out of 9) such assistance is hindering the leg movements. As a consequence, exoskeletons should embed task recognition capabilities in order to switch control strategies according to the performed task.