Experimental Study of Fully Passive, Fully Active, and Active-Passive Upper-Limb Exoskeleton Efficiency: An Assessment of Lifting Tasks

Overview

Journal Sensors (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2024 Jan 11

PMID 38202925

Authors

Ali Nasr

Clark R Dickerson

John McPhee

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Recently, robotic exoskeletons are gaining attention for assisting industrial workers. The exoskeleton power source ranges from fully passive (FP) to fully active (FA), or a mixture of both. The objective of this experimental study was to assess the efficiency of a new active-passive (AP) shoulder exoskeleton using statistical analyses of 11 quantitative measures from surface electromyography (sEMG) and kinematic data and a user survey for weight lifting tasks. Two groups of females and males lifted heavy kettlebells, while a shoulder exoskeleton helped them in modes of fully passive (FP), fully active (FA), and active-passive (AP). The AP exoskeleton outperformed the FP and FA exoskeletons because the participants could hold the weighted object for nearly twice as long before fatigue occurred. Future developments should concentrate on developing sex-specific controllers as well as on better-fitting wearable devices for women.

Citing Articles

Design and evaluation of AE4W: An active and flexible shaft-driven shoulder exoskeleton for workers.

Rossini M, De Bock S, Ducastel V, Van De Velde G, De Pauw K, Verstraten T Wearable Technol. 2025; 6:e12.

PMID: 40071239 PMC: 11896670. DOI: 10.1017/wtc.2024.19.

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