After a series of successful trials, Ford has decided to introduce mechanical exosuits for 75 of their workers in 15 of its factories worldwide. The semi-robotic suits are dubbed EksoVests and they are designed to wrap around the body in order to help the workers when they are lifting or reaching for objects overhead by offering support.
The suit is a wearable machine which is powered by electric motors, pneumatics, levers and hydraulics, all designed and manufactured by Ekso Bionics and it has been created in order to reduce the injuries that are normally associated with repetitive motions.
The EksoVests offer passive mechanical assistance to the wearer and are not controlled by an onboard computer.
Credit: EksoWorks / Youtube
The suits are designed for workers who are between 5 feet 2 inches and 6 feet 4 inches tall (1.57 meters to 1.93 meters), which gives the suits a pretty wide range. The strength provides lift assistance for loads as heavy as 15 pounds per arm (6.8kg). As an indication, Ford claims that some of the workers in its factories have to lift the equivalent of a bag of flour above their heads around 4.600 times a day.
The workers in the Ford factories most of the times have to reach up to perform manual tasks on cars suspended above their heads, like screwing bolts into place using powers tools, multiple times a day.
According to Ford, since the introduction of the exosuits in its factories, the injury rate has been one of the lowest they ever had on record.
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