How to Select the Force Setting of the Exoskeleton? The Effect of Working Height, Hand Posture on Assisting Force

The technology of passive upper-limb exoskeletons has been developed and improved to reduce the possibility of work-related injury or musculoskeletal discord. At present, each type of exoskeleton wearing guideline has different basis. There is no adjustment guideline for different working heights. This research aimed to explore the effect of working heights, working postures, and the setting of exoskeleton, on the assisting force. A passive upper limb exoskeleton, Comau MATE, was applied as the experimental equipment to explore the effect of above three factors. The results showed that the assisting forces of exoskeleton were significantly affected by working height, spring tension setting, and width between hands. The exoskeleton could provide better assisting force when users' working area are between shoulder to head, and the effect may decrease when user put their hand overhead. When users' two hands were shoulder width apart, the exoskeleton could provide better support. Those finding could provide a guide for the passive upper-limb exoskeleton users to adjust their setting of exoskeleton.