Exoskeleton4Plasterers
An arm support exoskeletons (exo) has been shown to assist plasterers when exposed to work with elevated arms, by providing part of the required joint torques, hereby reducing muscle activity. However, exo use in day to day work may face several challenges. Not all plasterer’s tasks comprise movements that will be supported by the exoskeleton and might even be hindered. Furthermore, use in practice might be jeopardized by factors such as time pressure, colleagues being negative, discomfort or any other hindrance of the exoskeleton. The use of exoskeletons in real work over several weeks and the experiences of their users have not been studied thus far.
We set up a field study, in which we equipped 39 plasterers for six weeks with an exoskeleton, to study the exo use in real practice. Moreover we studied the workload and fatigue, behavior, productivity and quality, advantages and disadvantages, and future acceptance. Plasterers were free to choose to work with or without the exoskeleton and were monitored using a digital questionnaire. In plastering ceilings, the exoskleton was used ‘often’ to ‘always’, in plastering walls it was used a bit less. Exo use did not change behavior regarding taking breaks or changing working hours and performance and quality was unaffected by exo use. 93% of the plasterers experienced support from the exo and 36% mentioned that they experienced less pain when working with the exo. On the other hand experienced disadvantages were ‘doesn’t fit well’ (25%), ‘obstructs my movements’ (36%) and ‘hinders me’ (60%). Advantages outweighed disadvantages for the majority of our population: in our final week 65% of the plasterers were positive towards using the exoskeleton in the future. This study shows that a majority plasterers will wear an arm support exo in practice and is enthusiastic about the load reducing effect.
