The Robot Report
industrial use includes suitX’s MAX Exoskeleton Suite, Ekso Bionics’ Work Vest, StrongArm Technologies’ FLx ErgoSkeleton, Laevo’s Laevo and Lockheed Martin’s Fortis.
Rigid and Soft
Esko Bionics’ Work Vest between the extremes of fully manual, non-technology enabled tasks, to those operations that demand traditional industrial robots. Exoskeletons exploit the intelligence of human operators and the strength, precision and endurance of industrial robots. The business benefits of commercial/ industrial exoskeletons are obvious and easily quantified. They include increased productivity, with a concomitant reduction in the number of worker related injuries, as well as decreased need for expensive, “full on” robotic solutions.
Nascent Market Currently, industrial exoskeletons are primarily being used (or under evaluation) in support manufacturing and logistics work. While market for wearable, humanguided, industrial exoskeletons is still in its nascency, the opportunity for solution providers is very large. For example, ABI Research (Oyster Bay, New York) finds that the total addressable market (TAM) for commercial/industrial exoskeletons currently exceeds 2.6 million units, with those featuring technologies that support standing and squatting, the most common type. Many developers of military and healthcare exoskeleton technologies have now added industrial systems to their product lines.
First Generation Systems The first generation of military and rehabilitation exos shared many features. Both types were composed of ridged,
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often heavy, structural elements including belts, actuators, struts, clips and more. When used, the devices often interfered with the body’s natural movements, decreasing efficiency and run times, and forcing the wearer to expend a great deal of energy to compensate. That is, the use of the exoskeletons produced results that are the opposite of the purported benefits of the technology – power and endurance augmentation. The early military and rehabilitation exoskeletons were also powered using battery packs. Unfortunately, the portable power technology of the time was often too power limited and heavy to for extended work.
Powered and Unpowered The new generation of commercial/ industrial exos, some still under development, have benefitted from more efficient battery solutions, while some have resorted non-traditional power solutions such as compressed air. Examples of commercial class powered exoskeletons include Innophys’ Muscle Suit, Activelink’s Powerloader Ninja, Cyberdyne’s HAL for Labor Support RB3D’s HERCULE, Esko Bionics’ Esko Vest, Sarcos Robotics’ Guardian XO and Noonee’s Chairless Chair. In contrast to powered exoskeletons, unpowered or ‘passive’ exos increase strength and provide stability through a combination of human guided flexion/ extension and locking mechanisms. Unpowered exos for commercial and
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Rigid exos can produce musculoskeletal stress and fatigue due to their weight, as well as the unnatural or constrained movement of the suit. As a result, a number of companies are developing new types of soft exoskeletons made of soft, lightweight, compliant materials. The systems themselves are powered with soft muscle actuators or compressed air, or use flexion/extension mechanisms. Bioservo Technologies’ Ironhand and Daiya Industry’s Power Assist Glove serve as examples. In a manner to first generation exoskeleton systems, groups developing soft exo systems for military, and even consumer applications, such as Harvard University and SuperFlex, respectively, are sure to target the industrial sector at some point.
More to Come Supported by advances in materials, battery and actuator technologies, new exoskeleton systems designed for industrial work will continue to come to market. The role for these exo systems will also expand, and the number of industries employing exoskeleton technologies will also increase (think construction, agriculture and more). The reasons are obvious. The business benefits in terms of increased productivity, reduced worker injuries, and more, are simply too many, and too large, to ignore. RR
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8/1/18 11:06 AM