Wearer trials with an exoskeleton

Although advancing automation is making more and more heavy physical tasks easier, there are still work processes that require manual handling of loads.

In our “Poser” logistics center, countless small load carriers (KLTs) are assembled daily for transport to customers.

Depending on the situation, several hundred KLTs can accumulate here every day, which have to be assembled and packed from our two-story rack warehouse.

In order to make our employees’ daily work easier and to reduce the strain on the musculoskeletal system, we have been conducting wearer trials with so-called exoskeletons for several weeks. We obtain these from our local supplier Ottobock.

Here, the load is taken from the employee’s shoulder, as with a backpack, and redirected to the thighs with the help of the exoskeleton’s support structure. The energy store absorbs force when bending and releases it again when lifting. This results in a significant relief of the lower back of up to 25 kilograms. The heart of the system is the purely mechanical control at hip level.

This can distinguish between bending and walking and switches off automatically when walking, thus ensuring full freedom of movement. The support force can be infinitely adjusted on the rotary knob to suit the load of different work steps.

Due to the consistently positive feedback from the test persons, it has already been decided to procure the exoskeletons after the end of the test period and to use them permanently.

Furthermore, tests are underway regarding the use of the exoskeleton in other Kayser areas.