Turning workers into 'super workers' with robotic suits

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TruSteE1
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Location: Uyo
 

December 11th, 2017, 11:03 pm

If you've watched the Iron Man film franchise,
you'll know that a powered suit gives inventor
Tony Stark superhuman strength to fight the
bad guys.
_98959404_exoskeleton_8838-1.jpg
But away from the the fictional world of
blockbusting movies, robotic exoskeletons offer
more prosaic and useful help for humans. The military has been in on the act for years, using
them to help soldiers carry more weight for longer
periods of time. Meanwhile manufacturers have
been busy creating robotic suits to give mobility to
people with disabilities. But now exoskeletons are becoming an important
part of the scene in more conventional workplaces,
mainly because of their unique offering. "Exoskeletons act as a bridge between fully-
manual labour and robotic systems. You get the
brains of people in the body of a robot," says Dan
Kara, research director at ABI Research. "But there's more to it than that. You can tie the use
of exoskeletons to business benefits that are very
easy to quantify. The main one is a reduction in
work-related injuries, and we know that outside
the common cold, back injury is the main reason
people are off work." The motor industry has used robots for many
years. But robots can't do everything, points out
technical expert Marty Smets, of Ford's human
systems and virtual manufacturing unit. "In our plants, we see a need for both people and
robots," he says. Some Ford assembly line workers lift their arms up
to 4,600 times a day - that's about a million times a
year. That sort of repetition leaves many suffering
from back-ache and neck pain. Now, though, the company has equipped staff at
two US assembly plants with a device called the
EksoVest, from California-based Ekso Bionics. It
helps take the strain by giving workers an extra
5-15lb (2.2-6.8kg) of lift per arm. "Incredible is the only word to describe the vest,"
said Paul Collins, an assembly line worker at Ford
Michigan assembly plant. "It has made my job
significantly easier and has given me more energy
throughout the day." The company says it's already seeing a dramatic
decline in work-related injuries and is now
planning to introduce the exoskeletons at facilities
in Europe and South America. Currently, the industrial use of exoskeletons is
relatively small - this year only a few thousand have
been sold, says ABI's Kara. But, he says, the
potential market could be in the millions. The types of exoskeleton used for rehabilitation
can cost more than $100,000 (£75,000), needing,
as they usually do, to replace a user's muscles
altogether. However, industrial versions can be far
cheaper, at around $5,000. They generally augment human strength rather
than replace it and tend to enhance one part of the
body only. They also often don't need any external
power. Instead, they can deliver a 10-20% boost to
the user's lifting power by transferring weight to
the ground. In Japan, exoskeletons are being used for heavy
lifting in the shipbuilding industry as well as in large
commercial construction projects. Meanwhile, US retailer Home Depot is testing
exoskeletons to help workers unload trucks and
bring materials onto the floor. Another early adopter is Lockheed Martin, which is
using its own Fortis exoskeleton to allow workers
to operate tools for much longer periods. It has a
support structure that transfers the weight of heavy
loads from the operator's body directly to the
ground through a series of joints at the hips, knees and ankles. It can also be used with an arm that supports the
weight of a tool helps isolate vibration and torque
kick - rotational force - from the user. Workers
using the devices, says Lockheed Martin, report
two-thirds less fatigue, with higher quality work,
greater productivity and fewer musculoskeletal injuries. Other companies are producing powered industrial
exoskeletons that are rather more like the suits
from the movies. Sarcos, for example, offers three
models, with the biggest - the Guardian GT
(pictured) - handling more than 450kg with its 2m
(7ft) arms. "I think powered exoskeletons will become
ubiquitous for industrial applications around the
world. These devices will materially reduce
occupational injuries while also dramatically
improving productivity," says chief executive
officer Ben Wolff. "Additionally, these devices can extend the useful
life of an aging work force, and can make jobs
open for more people that previously could have
only been handled by people of larger physical
stature."
Other augmentation technologies are even
stranger. Researchers at Cornell's Sibley School of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, for
example, have developed a robotic "third arm" that
attaches to the user's elbow. The group says it sees
applications in package handling, warehouses, and even restaurants. "A third arm device would enhance a worker's
reach, and allow them to access objects without
having to reach or bend. This would be useful in
pick-and-place tasks where the worker is moving,
such as retrieving packages from warehouse
shelves," says researcher Vighnesh Vatsal. "It would also provide support in assembly tasks in
challenging environments such as construction
sites, for instance by holding a work piece steady
while a worker operates on it with power tools
using their own hands." In the longer term, industry experts say the price of
exoskeletons will fall further, meaning they could
move into many more areas of work. They could
even find a place in private life, with applications in
DIY, gardening and sports such as hiking. So while we'll never be likely to be able to emulate
the exploits of comic book heroes, exoskeletons
could help with mundane household chores such
as ironing. So not so much Iron Man - more
"ironing man", perhaps?

Please share...

Life is NATURE and NURTURE.
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you can only reign with brain.
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