TY - JOUR
T1 - Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Semi-Passive Upper-Limb Exoskeleton for Workers with Motorized Tuning of Assistance
AU - Grazi, Lorenzo
AU - Trigili, Emilio
AU - Proface, Giulio
AU - Giovacchini, Francesco
AU - Crea, Simona
AU - Vitiello, Nicola
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - This article presents the H-PULSE, a novel semi-passive upper-limb exoskeleton for worker assistance, with motorized tuning of the assistive level. The H-PULSE presents novel design features compared to other passive industrial exoskeletons for the upper limbs, namely joint angle sensors for measuring shoulder flexion/extension and a novel active mechanism for regulating the assistance level. These features could enhance the effectiveness of the system. Along with the presentation of the exoskeleton design, this article reports on the system experimental evaluation with human subjects. The H-PULSE was assessed in prolonged static overhead tasks under different conditions of assistive support. The set of metrics to evaluate the effects of the device included shoulder muscular activity, heart rate, and subjective user feedback. Results show that the exoskeleton can reduce the users' muscular activity and the heart rate. Subjective questionnaires allowed the assessment of perceived exoskeleton effectiveness. In this study, the H-PULSE exoskeleton was found to be potentially effective in reducing the muscular strain while reducing the global fatigue level during prolonged continuous overhead activities.
AB - This article presents the H-PULSE, a novel semi-passive upper-limb exoskeleton for worker assistance, with motorized tuning of the assistive level. The H-PULSE presents novel design features compared to other passive industrial exoskeletons for the upper limbs, namely joint angle sensors for measuring shoulder flexion/extension and a novel active mechanism for regulating the assistance level. These features could enhance the effectiveness of the system. Along with the presentation of the exoskeleton design, this article reports on the system experimental evaluation with human subjects. The H-PULSE was assessed in prolonged static overhead tasks under different conditions of assistive support. The set of metrics to evaluate the effects of the device included shoulder muscular activity, heart rate, and subjective user feedback. Results show that the exoskeleton can reduce the users' muscular activity and the heart rate. Subjective questionnaires allowed the assessment of perceived exoskeleton effectiveness. In this study, the H-PULSE exoskeleton was found to be potentially effective in reducing the muscular strain while reducing the global fatigue level during prolonged continuous overhead activities.
KW - Industry 4.0
KW - upper-limb exoskeletons
KW - wearable robotics
KW - workers assistance
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U2 - 10.1109/TNSRE.2020.3014408
DO - 10.1109/TNSRE.2020.3014408
M3 - Article
C2 - 32755865
AN - SCOPUS:85092539279
VL - 28
SP - 2276
EP - 2285
JO - IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
JF - IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
SN - 1534-4320
IS - 10
M1 - 9159674
ER -