Helping to transform the tasks of heavy lifting, prototype exoskeleton suits developed at CDE have been creating waves behind the scenes in preparations for the Singapore National Day Parade.
Designed by the Biorobotics Lab at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the exoskeletons have been worn by soldiers working on the packing and shipping of 300,000 NDP packs for this year’s celebrations.
The multi-disciplinary lab is led by Associate Professor Yu Haoyong, who the NDP Pack Committee approached after they heard about his work developing the suits.
Developed over the past four years, the experimental exoskeletons are part of a range of wearable assistive robotic systems designed at the lab.
The devices are powered mechanical frames worn over the worker’s back and shoulders to help alleviate the physical stresses of heavy and repetitive work. They operate using a network of sensors that detect the wearer’s movements and respond by engaging a motorised actuator to provide supporting countermovements.
In industrial workplaces, back and shoulder injuries are the two most common types of injury, often caused by over-exertion and repetitive tasks.
Weighing just 6kg, the prototype exoskeletons developed at Assoc Prof Yu’s lab are 40 per cent lighter than other commercially available models.
“With the labour market shrinking and a smaller workforce that is, on average, older, there’s a growing need for occupational exoskeletons,” says Assoc Prof Yu.
“The devices being developed and prototyped at the Biorobotics Lab could be important tools in improving workplace safety, boosting productivity, and helping companies to support and maintain their experienced workforce. With more societies facing the challenge of an ageing population, we need to start protecting our workers against injury whilst they are young.”
Previously the prototype exoskeletons have been trialled with, among others, baggage handlers at Changi Airport and with workers at a chemical plant.
Assoc Prof Yu says data collected from the NDP team using the prototype suits will be an important step in their further development and progress towards eventual commercialisation.
Watch a 2023 video from SGInnovate about the exoskeletons being developed at the Biorobotics Lab:
The exoskeletons being used in the preparations for NDP 2024 were also featured in this article on AsiaOne.
