Hey everybody,
As I have written in previous posts, my project's goal is to design a wearable exoskeleton-like device that will support the worker's hands weight in order to limit neck injuries and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). My project is brand new (I am the first researcher to work on it) thus I started the first couple of days doing some literature research on papers that study MSDs. After studying some demographics that address the problem, I figured out that for occupational MSDs the biggest cause is overexertion of arms to loads and awkward upper body posture. So the solution to that would be an exoskeleton that will support the upper extremes. We are definitely looking on implement fluid power on our project as the pneumatic pistons force outcome is very good for not much weight. We need our design to be as lightweight as it can because worker will have to carry it.
For now though, these past four weeks I've been spending my time on Solidworks designing different types and ideas for exoskeletons, in order to decide which fits best our application. We want the design to be easy to wear, lightweight, and to not put constraints on the arms movement while the same time it has to cancel out the weight of the had itself and possibly any tools the worker is holding. I've 3-D printed a couple of small-scale designs so I can see how the move in real world because I thought Solidworks assembly movement software is not very realistic. After printing some designs I decided on the best one which I will focus more on. The most difficult part of my research until now is the fact that it is a lot of trial and error process where I have to come up with my own ideas of new designs. Another thing that is part of research but may seem annoying is that many times you spend a lot of time on something that may not even work or be needed, which ofcourse you don't know.
I hope your research is going well too,
Spyros Kasapis
As I have written in previous posts, my project's goal is to design a wearable exoskeleton-like device that will support the worker's hands weight in order to limit neck injuries and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). My project is brand new (I am the first researcher to work on it) thus I started the first couple of days doing some literature research on papers that study MSDs. After studying some demographics that address the problem, I figured out that for occupational MSDs the biggest cause is overexertion of arms to loads and awkward upper body posture. So the solution to that would be an exoskeleton that will support the upper extremes. We are definitely looking on implement fluid power on our project as the pneumatic pistons force outcome is very good for not much weight. We need our design to be as lightweight as it can because worker will have to carry it.
For now though, these past four weeks I've been spending my time on Solidworks designing different types and ideas for exoskeletons, in order to decide which fits best our application. We want the design to be easy to wear, lightweight, and to not put constraints on the arms movement while the same time it has to cancel out the weight of the had itself and possibly any tools the worker is holding. I've 3-D printed a couple of small-scale designs so I can see how the move in real world because I thought Solidworks assembly movement software is not very realistic. After printing some designs I decided on the best one which I will focus more on. The most difficult part of my research until now is the fact that it is a lot of trial and error process where I have to come up with my own ideas of new designs. Another thing that is part of research but may seem annoying is that many times you spend a lot of time on something that may not even work or be needed, which ofcourse you don't know.
I hope your research is going well too,
Spyros Kasapis
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