Manual labor is still strongly present in many industrial contexts (such as the aerospace industry). Such operations commonly involve onerous tasks requiring to work in non-ergonomic conditions and to manipulate heavy parts. As a result, work-related musculoskeletal disorders are still a major problem that needs to be tackled in the workplace. In particular, the back is one of the most affected regions. To solve such an issue, many efforts have been made in the design and control of exoskeleton devices, relieving the human from the task load. Besides upper limbs and lower limbs exoskeletons, back-support exoskeletons have also been investigated, proposing both passive and active solutions.

The XSPINE project aims to test, validate, and benchmark the design of the back support exoskeleton proposed in [1]. The design of the proposed device exploits user-specific backbone-based kinematics to support the operator while performing his/her tasks. On the basis of the (easily implementable) scissor hinge mechanism, a one-degree of freedom device has been designed. The proposed mechanism allows to track the motion of a reference vertebra, where the device connects with the human back. The main advantages of the device are: user-centered design; scalability of the device; backbone-based kinematics. The project applies to the first option in the Eurobench framework. Three project phases are defined. 1) Validation of the current device through engineering and usability testing and implementation of modifications basing on the results. 2) Redesign of the device, introducing a passive mechanism to support the human's back. 3) Test and validation of the updated design. The outcomes of the project will allow improving the design of the device, making it possible to validate its design.

[1] Roveda, Loris, et al. "Design methodology of an active back-support exoskeleton with adaptable backbone-based kinematics." International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 79 (2020): 102991.