Development and Effectiveness Analysis of Passive-Type Exo-Suit for Shoulder Strength Assistance

Repeated stress is imposed on the shoulders of workers at various industrial sites including those of the heavy industry and aviation industry. Prolonged repetitive work causes muscle fatigue and thereby, affects the occurrence of musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, the demand for exosuits for shoulder-muscle support continues to grow. These can reduce muscle fatigue. To compensate for this, exosuits have been developed to assist muscle strength. However, it is difficult for a worker wearing an exosuit to apply it. This is owing to heterogeneity or inconvenience. In this study, the shoulder module was developed as a passive muscle-support method for muscle assistance to relieve discomfort. For convenient use, it was designed as a modular unit rather than full-body connection. We also investigated subjects' preferences in working on the shoulder after wearing the passive shoulder-support exosuit fabricated in this study. We achieved improvements.