Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Industrial and System Engineering, Virginia Tech, 250 Durham Hall (0118), Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA; Virginia Tech - Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
Appl Ergon. 2019 Jan;74:55-66. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2018.08.004. Epub 2018 Aug 17.
We compared different passive exoskeletal designs in terms of physical demands (maximum acceptable frequency = MAF, perceived discomfort, and muscular loading) and quality in a simulated overhead drilling task, and the moderating influence of tool mass (∼2 and ∼5 kg). Three distinct designs were used: full-body and upper-body exoskeletons with attached mechanical arms; and an upper-body exoskeleton providing primarily shoulder support. Participants (n = 16, gender-balanced) simulated drilling for 15 min to determine their MAF, then maintained this pace for three additional minutes while the remaining outcome measures were obtained. The full-body/upper-body devices led to the lowest/highest MAF for females and the lowest quality. The shoulder support design reduced peak shoulder muscle loading but did not significantly affect either quality or MAF. Differences between exoskeleton designs were largely consistent across the two tool masses. These results may be helpful to (re)design exoskeletons to help reduce injury risk and improve performance.
我们比较了不同的被动式外骨骼设计在物理需求方面（最大可接受频率=MAF、感知不适和肌肉负荷）和模拟 overhead drilling 任务中的质量，以及工具质量（约 2 公斤和约 5 公斤）的调节影响。使用了三种不同的设计：带有机械臂的全身和上半身外骨骼；以及主要提供肩部支撑的上半身外骨骼。参与者（n=16，性别均衡）模拟钻孔 15 分钟以确定他们的 MAF，然后在另外三分钟内保持这个速度，同时获得其余的结果测量值。全身/上半身设备导致女性的 MAF 最低/最高，且质量最差。肩部支撑设计降低了峰值肩部肌肉负荷，但对质量或 MAF 没有显著影响。外骨骼设计之间的差异在两种工具质量下基本一致。这些结果可能有助于（重新）设计外骨骼以帮助降低受伤风险和提高性能。
