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Flexible sensor-based biomechanical evaluation of low-back exoskeleton use in lifting
Wei Yin1, Yinong Chen2, Curran Reddy3
1Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.
Ergonomics
|May 19, 2023
Summary
This study developed a flexible sensor system for tracking human movement during lifting tasks with and without a low-back exoskeleton. The system accurately captured biomechanical changes, showing the exoskeleton effectively reduces low-back stress.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Human-Exoskeleton Interaction
- Ergonomics
Background:
- Assessing human-exoskeleton interaction biomechanics in field settings is challenging.
- Conventional motion capture systems are often not field-friendly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish an ambulatory, field-friendly system using miniaturized wireless flexible sensors.
- To study the biomechanics of human-exoskeleton interactions during lifting tasks.
Main Methods:
- Twelve healthy adults performed symmetric lifting with and without a passive low-back exoskeleton.
- Movement was tracked synchronously using a flexible sensor system and conventional motion capture (MoCap).
- Novel algorithms converted sensor signals into kinematic and dynamic measures.
Main Results:
- Flexible sensor measures highly correlated with MoCap data.
- The system discerned exoskeleton effects: increased lumbar flexion, decreased hip flexion, reduced lumbar flexion moment, and lower back muscle activity.
- Exoskeleton use was shown to relieve low-back stress.
Conclusions:
- The integrated flexible sensor system shows promise for biomechanics and ergonomics field studies.
- Passive low-back exoskeletons are effective in reducing low-back stress during manual lifting.
