A Lowe's Hardware Store Is Trialling Exoskeletons To Give Workers a Helping Hand (theverge.com)

slew writes: Okay, this isn't Aliens 2, but hardware chain Lowe's is "outfitting employees with a simple exoskeleton to help them on the job," reports The Verge. "The company has partnered with Virginia Tech to develop the technology, which makes lifting and moving heavy objects easier. The non-motorized exoskeletons are worn like a harness, with carbon fiber rods acting as artificial tendons -- bending when the wearer squats, and springing back when they stand up. Lowe's has issued four of the custom-built suits to employees at a store in Christiansburg, Virginia. The equipment has been in use for over a month and the company says early feedback is extremely positive. '[Employees] wear it all day, it's very comfortable, and it makes their job easier,' says Kyle Nel, the director of Lowe's Innovation Labs, adding that Lowe's is working with scientists from Virginia Tech to conduct a proper survey of the technology's usefulness. 'It's early days, but we're doing some major studies,' he says."

Comments

Human greed

[Dunbal]

Are you really helping workers if, once given the exoskeleton, you expect them to lift much heavier items more often?

Re:Human greed

[l0ungeb0y]

If it means keeping manual labor more effective than current or emerging automated technology while improving their overall health and well being, I'd say the answer is yes

Re:Human greed

[King_TJ]

I see new technologies making manual labor less of an effort as categorically good.

If these devices wind up increasing worker injuries on the job, due to increased demands they lift or move around heavy objects? Then that's a management failure ... misusing or misunderstanding the capabilities the device gives people.

Every Lowes store I've been in has at least one person driving a forklift type vehicle around to do most of the moving of really large objects. I don't think that's going to change. This sounds more like an aid for the existing situation where people working on the floor are expected to assist customers carrying purchases out to their vehicle, or getting one specific item for them from a shelf.

Re:Human greed

[gurps_npc]

Generally this set up is beneficial to the worker as well as the company.

First of all, they tend to get paid more money. Not a straight percent increase - if they do 30% more work, they tend to get 20% more money. Also, the job itself moves closer to skilled labor, among other things.

Secondly, the conversion is rarely exactly equal, and is more often in the favor of the worker. If the machine eases human effort by 34%, they are often expect to work 30% more, but occasionally it goes the other way and they are expected to work 40%. If it goes the other way around, the employees give the machines a bad recommendation saying they don't do what they promise and the company stops using them.

Thirdly, even if that is not the case, the law of regression to the mean makes this helpful. That is, assume you set a goal that only the 20% strongest can achieve. Your employees would range from the top 19% to the top 1%, and the average worker would be in the top 10%, having a 10% 'easy job' factor. The machine gives a 50% increase in power, so now the average employee has a 15% 'easy job' factor.

No guarantee, but the odds are in the employees favor.

 

Re:Human greed

[bobbied]

Are you really helping workers if, once given the exoskeleton, you expect them to lift much heavier items more often?

In this case, it looks to me that the benefit to the workers and company is that the device keeps the worker's back straight and enforces good lifting posture. Where I see how it can help some with the load, it's not going to really be that helpful. However, enforcing good posture will be effective in reducing back injuries it will be a huge benefit to both the company (and it's workers compensation insurance costs) and employees.

Re:Human greed

[Jzanu]

There are cheaper devices called back braces that are already in use with proven effectiveness at exactly the same protective purpose. Look at the pictures in the article, it is the red cloth apron-like garment worn by all workers.

Re:Human greed

[Anonymous Coward]

No way man. That fork lift has already "imposed other health problems on the workers" see. They're sitting around all day instead of standing! This is an affront to basic human rights obviously. What a purposely obtuse and disingenuous comment by your op.

Re:Human greed

[mikael]

And if they fall asleep or die from exhaustion, the endoskeleton will keep on working until the shift is over.

Re:Human greed

[Fire_Wraith]

They probably also get an insurance break due to additional protection against Alien Hive Queens.

Re:Human greed

[Gryle]

We don't really know if these things are superior to, equal to, or inferior to the existing back-braces. I imagine that's why Lowe's is only using it in a single store at first. You know, test bed, evaluation, all that good stuff.

Re:Human greed

[bobbied]

There are cheaper devices called back braces that are already in use with proven effectiveness at exactly the same protective purpose. Look at the pictures in the article, it is the red cloth apron-like garment worn by all workers.

And if you look at the pictures, this device IS a back brace too.... But braces don't ensure proper posture... I think this device does.

Re:Human greed

[Ranbot]

Or the less dystopian scenario that workers do roughly the same amount of day-to-day work, but are less prone to acute and chronic injuries, which saves the company money on less workman's comp claims, fewer incidents to report to OSHA, lower health insurance rates, etc.

Hospitals should be testing this out with nursing staff in hospitals, which have some of the highest rates of on the job lifting related injuries (from lifting/supporting patients). http://www.npr.org/2015/02/04/...

Re:Human greed

[Gilgaron]

The items still need to be sized so they can be lifted by the customers, crammed in the minivan, and nailed together at home. The workers just have to handle them more often as a matter of course with restocking the shelves.

Re:Human greed

[Verdatum]

As mentioned in other's comments, you are describing the intent of the back brace: lock the back to prevent improper bending at the back instead promoting squatting at the knees. This device instead appears to nullify the problems of improper bending at the back, and possibly forces the person to ab-crunch in order to bend down and regain that force on the lift. Ab muscles are designed to do work, but back muscles are not really made to do much beyond maintain upright balance and reset the leg in preparation for the next step when walking or running.

Depending on the tension level of the spring, you're either perfectly counterbalanced such that your muscles do almost zero work when bending over and returning upright, or your ab-crunch, needed to bend the spring forward, allows you to lift weight from the ground without added strain to the back muscles.

But I feel like this is the downfall of the design. It promotes bad technique that creates a dependence on the device. It reinforces a bad habit. The muscles that are best suited for work on the body are the gluts and hamstrings. They're strong because they're what do the work needed to allow us to run. You make use of them by bending at the knees and lifting with the legs, which is what we've been told to do forever. If you want to throw the abs into the mix, you do that with a 1st class lever. And if you want to throw arm muscles into the mix, use a wheelbarrow.

If you want to be really clever, you could take the stuff that's heavy, but light enough for people to reasonably lift, and shelve it at roughly between waist and elbow height. Then move that stuff around with carts that keep it at roughly the same height, instead of grocery carts or floor-carts. To an extent, Lowes does exactly this.

Re:Human greed

[TWX]

I would be surprised if they get rid of existing tools with any dispatch; they'll probably see what existing labor-saving tools fall into significant disuse and in what cases those tools do get occasionally used. The biggest risk is probably employees choosing to ignore the normal two-man lift rules for picking up some of the heavier or bulkier objects and getting hurt because of that.

At the moment they have very sturdy step-stools, very sturdy stairs, pallet-jacks, and forklifts. The step-stools and stairs do not really do much for moderately heavy objects that are low to the ground, a pallet-jack doesn't get something up on to a low-height shelf, and sometimes it's wasteful to have to use a forklift, and with internal store rules for the use of forklifts it can be a huge pain to close-off popular aisles of the store like the electrical section in order to move a large object. If this acts as that intermediate point between human muscle and a forklift then it may fill a niche that helps with store productivty.

Re:Human greed

[TWX]

Hey! Who turned off the lights?

The sequel is actually Aliens

[bi$hop]

Not "Aliens 2".

Re:The sequel is actually Aliens

[stealth_finger]

Yeah, it goes Alien, Aliens, bunch of other crap.

Re:Can they kick an alien's ass, though?

[bobbied]

Nope... It won't... It provides no additional strength, just support.

This thing is more like wearing a spring... As you squat, the spring makes it easier to push back up... Consider it a reverse squat machine..

Re:Can they kick an alien's ass, though?

[gurps_npc]

It's not just that. It also saves the spine. It transfers the weight directly from your arms to your legs, saving your back a LOT of work.

the first guy to take one out of the store

[turkeydance]

and to a party with video wins.

Re:the first guy to take one out of the store

[chispito]

and to a party with video wins.

It is so abundantly clear you didn't read the summary, much less TFA. It looks like a back brace.

Darkness I expect from the Empire, Obi-Wan...

[Applehu Akbar]

At all costs, do not let United Airlines find out about this!

Very cool, but exposed CF rods are bad

[drinkypoo]

When they break they become hazardous. They rarely throw significant shrapnel but they're nasty to the touch. Sort of in between fiberglass... and glass. And having them exposed like that makes them vulnerable to abrasion, which is what actually leads to failure.

Re:Can they kick an alien's ass, though?

[bobbied]

I don't think so, unless you are lifting wrong to start with... My guess is that this thing really enforces good posture when lifting, which shouldn't involve your back, which should be as straight and as vertical as possible at all times. ALWAYS lift with your legs, so your back shouldn't "work" much at all... This thing pretty much makes bending your back hard (at least that's what it looks like to me). It's more like a brace that keeps the back straight...

"Trialling?"

[RightwingNutjob]

How about "trying," "experimenting with," "using," or any one of a dozen and a half phrases that are actual English?

Re:"Trialling?"

[Jzanu]

Trialling is standard English. See here. In fact, it is the most precise word to use in this instance. Looks like you need to seriously brush up on their English skills, or at least read more than random websites and comments from illiterate users.

The guy in the picture

[future assassin]

If that is a Lowe's employee wouldn't' it have been more beneficial to pay for his gym pass and say a few weeks of personal trainer. I bet after 3 week and him loosing 20-30 LB they'd have a more fit and happy employee that now will work better even with the exo.

Re:The guy in the picture

[drinkypoo]

I bet after 3 week and him loosing 20-30 LB

It's really not safe to lose 30 pounds in three weeks, and most people can't physically do that.

Re:Can they kick an alien's ass, though?

[gurps_npc]

First, if you think everyone always lifts correctly, then you need to learn a lot. But even when you lift right, it still puts a strain on your lower back. Or do you think the weight magically is transferred from your arms to the ground?

No. Even if you are lifting correctly, any weight you carry in your arms or back is transferred through your spine and that puts stress on it. Looking at it, this device clearly transfers weight from your upper back to your legs, bypassing your lower back.

It physically can not take weight off your legs, as it has no connection to the floor. It also has no connection to your hands, so it can't take weight off your arms.

Almost the ONLY thing this thing can do is to take strain off your lower back.

There is no Aliens 2

[trawg]

It's just called Aliens. COME ON EDITORS! :)

Re:Can they kick an alien's ass, though?

[bobbied]

So... You don't think this thing just MIGHT help maintain the right posture while lifting? We are going to have to disagree on that. I think the device does help in maintaining the correct posture, if for no other reason than the subconscious affect of having the thing on...

BTW.. Sorry if my language was imprecise about the back being involved in lifting. The way the correct posture is taught is by saying "Don't use your back, use your legs to lift." Of course the back is involved, but it should be as straight and vertical as possible so the load is transferred as evenly as possible though your back. Really, what you want to accomplish is to keep your back STRAIGHT and use your legs to lift the load, this device obviously encourages that posture..

Workers at Lowes?

[mtmiller100]

The last few times I've been to a Lowes, there weren't any workers to be seen at all, outside the registers. Who on earth are these exoskeletons designed for then?

Re:Can they kick an alien's ass, though?

[Ranbot]

FWIW, The Lowes employee wearing the exoskeleton harness photographed in the article does not appear to be using proper lifting technique. His back is rounded, not straight, but maybe the harness still enforces proper side-to-side posture. I question how much this harness is enforcing posture vs transferring load stress off the back, but the article is mostly fluff. I would appreciate a better explanation of the mechanics of this harness, because people in this discussion [so far] seem to be stabbing in the dark at explanations [when they aren't cracking Aliens jokes, of course].

Re:Can they kick an alien's ass, though?

[Verdatum]

The problems with the back related to jobs involving bending and lifting tend to have a lot more to do with overstraining wussy back muscles (erector spinae) than it has to do with compression forces on the spine. Besides; this design does not offload those compression forces from the spine. In order for that to happen, it would need to have a rigid outer leg that extends to the floor. For example, a late-medieval suit of full-plate armor doesn't feel heavy because it isn't worn on the shoulders, the weight is conducted to the ground through the shoe (sabaton) when in a standing position. This is a harness, and a regular harness can't transmit downward force to your legs. It can only transmit downward force to your shoulders; meaning the same compression still takes place on the spine. The only other way to take strain off the spine and transmit it to the legs would be to have a rigid structure that digs into the top of the pelvis, or have a surgery bolting something to the leg-bone. Further, you'd need suport underneath the arms to transfer load off of the spine. A harness can transfer load to the shoulders, or it can deal with torsional, bending forces, which is what this is doing. It reduces strain of the erector muscles when you bend improperly, and depending on how it's tensioned, it may force your abs to engage when you want to bend forward, allowing you then to lift a weight without forcing the erector muscles to do that work. A better solution is to just use good technique and lift with the legs from a squat, but I basically see what they're trying to do here.

FWIW, I've constructed harnesses amateur for film-work.

Get away from her you bitch!

[LesserWeevil]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnOIvn8hMS4