Modeling the metabolic reductions of a passive back-support exoskeleton.

Despite several attempts to quantify the metabolic savings resulting from the use of passive back-support exoskeletons (BSEs), no study has modeled the metabolic change while wearing an exoskeleton during lifting. The objectives of this study were to: ) quantify the metabolic reductions due to the VT-Lowe's exoskeleton during lifting; and ) provide a comprehensive model to estimate the metabolic reductions from using a passive BSE. In this study, 15 healthy adults (13 males, 2 females) of ages 20-34 yr (mean = 25.

Design and preliminary evaluation of a flexible exoskeleton to assist with lifting.

We present a passive (unpowered) exoskeleton that assists the back during lifting. Our exoskeleton uses carbon fiber beams as the sole means to store energy and return it to the wearer. To motivate the design, we present general requirements for the design of a lifting exoskeleton, including calculating the required torque to support the torso for people of different weights and heights.

Motion Inference Using Sparse Inertial Sensors, Self-Supervised Learning, and a New Dataset of Unscripted Human Motion.

In recent years, wearable sensors have become common, with possible applications in biomechanical monitoring, sports and fitness training, rehabilitation, assistive devices, or human-computer interaction. Our goal was to achieve accurate kinematics estimates using a small number of sensors. To accomplish this, we introduced a new dataset (the Virginia Tech Natural Motion Dataset) of full-body human motion capture using XSens MVN Link that contains more than 40 h of unscripted daily life motion in the open world.

Quantification of Postures for Low-Height Object Manipulation Conducted by Manual Material Handlers in a Retail Environment.

Occupational Applications Manual material handlers performing stocking tasks spent substantial amounts of time in bent postures but used traditional stoops and squats infrequently. Instead, they often used split-legged stoops and squats, where one foot is further forward than the other, and one-legged ("golfer's") lifts. During object manipulation, the distance workers reached away from their body, and the height at which they manipulated objects, were correlated with the posture used by the worker.

A passive exoskeleton reduces peak and mean EMG during symmetric and asymmetric lifting.

The VT-Lowe's exoskeleton is a novel passive lift-assistive device designed to offload the back muscles during repetitive lifting. In this study, the effect of the exoskeleton on electromyographic (EMG) signals was investigated in four different lifting types (stoop, squat, freestyle and asymmetric) and two box weights (0% and 20% of body weight). Twelve young healthy adults ages 18-31 years (mean = 22.