Ford Pilots a New Exoskeleton To Lessen Worker Fatigue (futurism.com)

Ford is partnering with California-based exoskeleton maker Ekso Bionics to trial a non-powered upper body exoskeletal tool called EksoVest in two of the carmaker's U.S. plants. The goal is to lessen the fatigue factory workers experience in Ford's car manufacturing plants. Futurism reports: Designed to fit workers from five feet to six feet four inches tall, the EksoVest adds some 3 to 6 kilograms (5 to 15 pounds) of adjustable lift assistance to each arm. This exoskeleton is also comfortable enough to wear while providing free arm movement thanks to its lightweight construction. "Collaboratively working with Ford enabled us to test and refine early prototypes of the EksoVest based on insights directly from their production line workers," Ekso Bionics co-founder and CTO Russ Angold said in a Ford press release. "The end result is a wearable tool that reduces the strain on a worker's body, reducing the likelihood of injury, and helping them feel better at the end of the day -- increasing both productivity and morale." The U.S. trial, made possible with the help of the United Automobile Workers, has already demonstrated the wonders that the exoskeleton can offer in reducing fatigue from high-frequency tasks. As such, Ford plans to expand their EksoVest pilot program to other regions, which include Europe and South America.

Comments

Interesting start.

[glitch!]

This sounds like an interesting start. It's not powered armor, but a trivial gain in weight carrying power is something. Yes, 15 pounds per arm is very low. But it's a start and they can collect data to help refine their system. With time, they might create a suit with useful powers.

Re:Interesting start.

[Anonymous Coward]

Serious about a better life for workers, strapping them in a fucking machine is not fucking it, you sick bastards. Talk about turning people into a cog in the machine, you are now a device, your body is superfluous, we just need your brain to control the machine. Why not free workers even fucking more, cut out their brains and put them in a jar in the machine, now how efficient would that be.

You're honestly a moron. Workers need to be there precisely because there's a lot of things machines are somewhere between bad out or horrible at. Humans are always necessary for the inspection of parts precisely because computer vision sucks even in the best of circumstances. Trying to spin this all as "human brain in a jar" really misses the point. Now, whether an exo-skeleton is the right answer is definitely debatable. But the whole notion that the issue is humans and robots in some fashion working together? I honestly think you've got no real experience handling 15lb steel parts 8 hours a day.

The Macarena

[Arzaboa]

I'd like to write a couple of macro's for these things.

--
"Hey Macarena" -- Los Del Rio

Re:The Macarena

[Megane]

If you are making an exoskeleton dance, wouldn't it be more appropriate to call it "Gundam style"?

Ans then

[bobstreo]

Data Analytics, AI, and after enough input. you can just replace the workers with robots that have been trained for everything the workers do...

Re:wait...

[blindseer]

If it's non-powered, how does it add lift? Counterweights? Riiiiiiight.

Magnets.

Seriously, is this that hard to imagine? Put in some springs or something elastic. People have been using simple devices to assist in motion for a long time. There are lifting belts that take some strain off of backs. Dancing shoes of various sorts let people stand on tiptoes or whatever. Just shoes generally, from basketball shoes with little air pockets in the soles to those crazy spring loaded contraptions that people use to jump over cars. None of these things are powered but they add some kind of support, leverage, or energy storage.

Sucks for us in the 1%

[blindseer]

Designed to fit workers from five feet to six feet four inches tall

As someone that is six feet five inches tall I'm not terribly surprised at this. About 99% of the populations is between five feet and six feet four inches tall. I've gotten used to things in the world not being designed for people as tall as I am, but it still sucks. You'd think that just one inch is not such a big deal but consider the height of a typical door. Most household doors are six feet eight inches before things like flooring and such are added, now add the thickness of the sole of a typical work boot, and headgear like a helmet, hearing protection, or just a baseball cap. Now someone that's just an inch taller than 99% of the population has to be very careful walking through doors or that little metal button on the top of a baseball cap gets slammed into their skull. Those door return mechanisms on many fire doors are another hazard to life and eyesight for the 1%.

Here's an interesting thing I found out, being short is considered a "disability" but being tall is not. A person under five feet tall (male or female*) is considered "disabled" under laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, and as a "disabled person" they can demand "reasonable accommodations" for their height. There is no upper limit to height that I can see being considered automatically a disability, therefore businesses are not required to make any "reasonable accommodations". Is that "fair"? Life's not fair.

* If one is not either male or female then that's just weird, and not a disability under any law I could see.

Re:Sucks for us in the 1%

[Spy Handler]

Being under 5 feet tall is a disability under ADA? I didn't know that.

Also where did you get this "99% of the population is between five feet and six feet four inches tall" figure? A large percent of the population is under 5 feet tall. They're called children.

Re:Sucks for us in the 1%

[blindseer]

Right, that would be "adult population".

One thing about being short is that such people can find clothes, children's clothes but they exist. I don't see too many tall women complain about finding clothes that fit. Their dresses might be shorter on them, they can buy men's clothes (which can be stylish regardless of the practicality), and those cropped pants that are (or were) the style don't look silly if another inch or two shorter. I've been finding it easier to get clothes every year but my selections are always limited, for example a style of carpenter jeans I like will come in 7 colors in most sizes but in "tall" they only come in 4.

Re:wait...

[drinkypoo]

It's probably springs of some form. Your body already does this; energy is stored in your tendons when you walk. When you shift your weight from one leg to the other, one tendon stretches (the foot coming down) while the other relaxes, giving up some of the energy used to stretch it. This is why bipedal walking is so efficient, and in turn why any fit and healthy human can do it all day.

Let's say you had to repeatedly squat all day. If they built an exoskeleton which went under tension when you sank into a squatting position, then it would help you get back up and reduce the amount of work you had to do, letting you perform the action more times. It might make it harder to get back up if you fell down, though. We could probably have evolved to be more springy, so if we haven't, there's probably a drawback. It might however still be worth it to wear one while doing a particular job. Our hands are soft and delicate so that we can do fine detail work, lots of other animals (including other primates) have tougher skin. But we still put on gloves, which reduce tactile feedback. Then we take them off again.

I think the trouble is being tall

[rsilvergun]

has never been litigated because, well, being tall is such a huge advantage in life. You're generally more respected and looked at more favorably. Men & Women find you more attractive (something like 90% of Women say they want a taller man, not sure what the stats are for the other side) and it's a rare day I see somebody short who gets promoted and when I do they're usually some kind of bad ass engineer.

I'm not trying to throw shade. I think it's an issue that might actually need to be litigated at some point. But I am saying that most of the tall folks I know would just move on to a nicer job if they were put in that situation rather than bothering with a lawsuit. Sort of a reverse survival bias.