RESUMO
Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of wearing exoskeletons during welding on the quality of the weld seam. Material and methods: A total of n = 15 young healthy subjects with welding experience took part in the study. The study design defines a 1-hr workflow that abstracts welding and grinding tasks. The sequence is based on standard DIN EN ISO 9606-1 and reproduces authentic work sequences in the constrained body positions PF-workpiece in front of the body and PE-workpiece overhead. Each subject completed the entire workflow once with and once without passive shoulder exoskeleton in a randomized order. Results: The evaluation shows that the use of passive shoulder exoskeletons has a significant influence (p = .006 for Position PF; p = .029 for Position PE) on the welding parameter travel speed which significantly influences the quality of the weld seam. The quality scale (by the used augmented reality (AR) welding simulator) of the travel speed, which significantly determines the permissibility of the weld, increases by 5.80% in the constrained body position PF and by 28.87% in the constrained body position PE when using an exoskeleton. Discussion and conclusion: The score of the welding parameter travel speed, which is essential for the permissibility of the seam, shows a statistically significant increase when an assistance system is used. Further research during real welding with exoskeletons could be based on the setup and workflow of this study.
RESUMO
Industrial exoskeletons have recently gained importance as ergonomic interventions for physically demanding work activities. The growing demand for exoskeletons is leading to a need for new knowledge on the effectiveness of these systems. The Exoworkathlon, as a prospective study approach, aims to assess exoskeletons in realistic use cases and to evaluate them neutrally in their entirety. For this purpose, a first set of four realistic Parcours was developed with experts from relevant industries, the German Social Accident Insurance, and the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. In addition, a set of ratings was defined to assess subjective user feedback, work quality, and objective physiological parameters. Exoworkathlon aims to bring together developers, researchers, and end-users, strengthen collaborative exchanges, and promote a platform for the prospective holistic data collection for exoskeleton evaluation. In this article, the focus is on the background and methodology of Exoworkathlon.
