Occupational Ergonomics Technical Group

Hi, 
My name is Crystal Nelson and am happy to be a new member of this group! I recently started working with a drywall company and one of the areas that we have been talking about is exoskeletons for the upper body only to assist with repetitive overhead work. Do any of you have any recommendations for certain brands/styles/models that would hold up better in an environment with more dirt and debris? Ones that are more comfortable than others? In your experience, how long does it take for users to get use to wearing an exoskeleton? Feel free to share any other information. I appreciate your time! 

Hi Crystal,

 I have experience with the Levitate - Airframe, Eksobionics - EVO, Ottobock Paexo - Shoulder and the ErgoSante - Hapo MS.  You can find details about each and other at Exoskeleton Report.com. Each exoskeleton functions a little differently and have different support activation ranges.  The above are all passive, non-powered systems that use tension or elastic stored energy to provide upward support.  Drywall work is an interesting and appropriate use case for a system due to the lifting of panels and prolonged usage of tools.  You'll need to find a balance between support level for the panel lifting sub-task and the repetitive fastening task. Working backwards:
The Hapo system work best for in-front of you work and does not provide significant support in the overhead positions.
The Ottobock and Levitate systems are On/Off systems meaning that you turn them on and they support the arms even when they are down by the side of the body, albeit minimally. The level of support force increases and decreases as it move through the ROM.  Peaking at/around the 90 degree of flexion/abduction.
The EVO has a high support capability, around 18lbs max I believe and has activation angles/zones that are adjustable.  This means you can "tune" the system to provide support starting at various degrees of flexion/abduction.

I would look at your tasks and determine the average amount of time spent in an overhead position and the repetition.  If its highly repetitive then you'll want something that provides less support so that they don't feel like they need to "overcome" the support level and pull their arms back down.  If it's semi-repetitive then you can consider systems that provide higher levels of support and therefor more offload.

I recommend down selecting to 2 systems and purchasing/loaning those systems to have the End User try it and provide feedback.

Hi, 
My name is Crystal Nelson and am happy to be a new member of this group! I recently started working with a drywall company and one of the areas that we have been talking about is exoskeletons for the upper body only to assist with repetitive overhead work. Do any of you have any recommendations for certain brands/styles/models that would hold up better in an environment with more dirt and debris? Ones that are more comfortable than others? In your experience, how long does it take for users to get use to wearing an exoskeleton? Feel free to share any other information. I appreciate your time!