Initially, exoskeleton research and commercialization efforts largely focused on the defense and medical rehabilitation sectors, or as mobility aids allowing the disables to stand upright, walk and climb stairs. Exoskeleton technology designed to support manufacturing and logistics work have now been made commercially available, and have found success, with research ongoing and more products coming. The business case is simple – reduced worker stress, injury (and turnover), along with increased productivity and automation flexibility. But many other industries and commercial activities could also benefit from exoskeleton technology, including any task that requires repetitive lifting, extended standing, and distance walking such as those performed by construction workers, surgeons, farm laborers and more.
In this RoboBusiness Direct session, attendees will learn of the business, technology, and social issues driving the industrial exoskeleton market, and the many ways exoskeleton technologies – powered and unpowered – are being used in warehouses and manufacturing sites today.
The session will also include a discussion of the industrial exoskeleton technical and operational issues, and how exo technologies could be utilized in other sectors – both of which are opportunity indicators for robotics solution providers and enabling technology suppliers.
• Business and value drivers
• Representative industrial exoskeleton products
• Enabling technologies for exo systems
• Deployment, usage, and ROI analyses
• Challenges and opportunities
