Coverage from WearRAcon 2023 And the A+A Trade Show By Thomas Sugar, Director of WearRA
WearRAcon Europe was held on October 25-26, 2023, in Dusseldorf, Germany, in conjunction with the A+A Trade Fair. A+A was one of the world’s largest trade fairs for Safety, Security, and Health at Work, highlighting that “People Matter.” It is held once every two years, and in 2023, it brought over 65,000 visitors. The final program of the trade fair is available on the A+A website. The Fraunhofer Institute IPA organized the WearRAcon 23 conference, ExoPark, and ExoWorkathlon in cooperation with Stuttgart University and the Wearable Robotics Association (WearRA). Keynote speakers included Professor Nicola Vitiello, who discussed wearable robotics for human movement, and Dr. Thomas Alexander from the Federal Agency of Occupation Safety, who talked regarding a safe and healthy workplace. PAGE 8 | EXOSKELETON REPORT
Sessions over the two-day period included Exoskeletons and Exosuits, Assessment and Human Factors, Modeling and Simulation, Exhibitor demonstrations, an End-User Forum, and Use Cases. More than 100 academic researchers, industry experts, and industry producers participated in the conference. Drs. Tom Sugar and Urs Schneider examined the need to educate consumers, market success stories, and highlight that musculoskeletal injuries continue to be a leading cause of missed workdays. Use cases were described with exoskeleton technology utilized in a Ford Valencia manufacturing plant, heavy maintenance work at a rail maintenance depot, baggage handling at an airport, and lifting large containers at a chemical plant. ISSUE 8 | JUNE 25, 2024
