Engineering, Adoption, and Ethics of Lift-Assist Exoskeletons

Many occupations require workers to perform repetitive tasks such as lifting and bending that put significant strain on their bodies resulting in high levels of injury. Exoskeletons are one method of being able to decrease the forces on a worker while still allowing them to move. In this research, I propose a novel exoskeleton design that integrates the design process with an ethical understanding of how technology is used in society and a potential plan for an interdisciplinary approach to better adoption of this type of assistive technology. The exoskeleton is based around a novel differential that allows the exoskeleton legs to articulate during ambulatory motion while providing automatic lifting engagement by linking the force-generating mechanisms in each leg. Using a differential also allows the integration of a custom support level that can be changed during the design to better fit the varying motions found in different professions such as farming and manufacturing. Testing for this design was performed by using farming-related tasks in a laboratory to understand the level of support provided by the exoskeleton. Results show the exoskeleton provides significant support for these tasks. This validation helps build trust in the technology before it is tested on actual farmers in real-world situations and helps minimize ethical concerns regarding potential exoskeleton use. I also discuss the ethical concerns and how they can be mitigated during the design and implementation phases to ensure workers are protected and improve overall buy-in to exoskeleton technology in the workplace.