Design of a torque measurement unit for upper limbs industrial exoskeletons*

Abstract

Exoskeletons have been introduced in occupational environments as devices to increase human performance and minimize loads on muscles and joints. The main goal of industrial exoskeletons is to prevent overload or repetitive stress injuries in workers. Most of these exoskeletons use adjustable passive mechanisms to provide support to joints and therefore, two important aspects in the design of industrial exoskeletons are robustness and safety. However, due to the lack of public detailed information about most of the commercial exoskeletons, it is necessary to further assess their load capacity and evolution over time, as their performance may change with use. In this paper, we present the design of a controlled device to measure the actuating torque of shoulder exoskeletons models and the construction of the proposed device considering mechanical actuation and sensor subsystems.