Multijoint passive elastic spine exoskeleton for stoop lifting assistance

Abstract

In the task of carrying heavy objects, it is easy to cause back injuries and other musculoskeletal diseases. Although wearable robots are designed to reduce this danger, most existing exoskeletons use high-stiffness mechanisms, which are beneficial to load-bearing conduction, but this restricts the natural movement of the human body, thereby causing ergonomic risks. This article proposes a back exoskeleton composed of multiple elastic spherical hinges inspired by the biological spine. This spine exoskeleton can assist in the process of bending the body and ensure flexibility. We deduced the kinematics model of this mechanism and established an analytical biomechanical model of human–robot interaction. The mechanism of joint assistance of the spine exoskeleton was discussed, and experiments were conducted to verify the flexibility of the spine exoskeleton and the effectiveness of the assistance during bending.