Workshop: Industrial Exoskeletons: Market Demands, Challenges, and Research Opportunities

The Altair Robotics Lab and the Neuromuscular Robotics Lab at the University of Twente will host a one-day workshop on occupational & industrial exoskeletons in conjunction with a broader Italian conference. The workshop will be a full-day event on Sunday, September 1st, 2024, during the last day of CASE 2024.

Industrial Exoskeletons: Market Demands, Open Challenges, and Research Opportunities will include multiple hours of presentations, group discussions, and live presentations. Additional objectives of the workshop beyond the stated title will be to:

• Current challenges of industrial exoskeleton (ExR counts more than 70 different models at this point, see: catalog – industrial exo devices)
• How to reduce the wearability gap?
• Hurdles to overcome with semi-active (also known as quasi-passive or hybrid) exoskeletons.
• How to increase device transparency.
• Ranking the main causes of discomfort (and abandonment) of exos.
• Long-term vision: how to reach universal acceptance and device transparency.

The workshop aims to bring exoskeleton producers and academia together to foster discussions on current obstacles and research opportunities. It will include presentations from both sides in addition to product demonstrations.

Scheduled Presentations:

• Kevin De Pauw – From proof of concept to market-proof robotics devices; Where neurophysiology meets bioengineering
• Andrea Calanca – Exoskeleton Control: from Actuation to Augmentation
• Massimo Sartori/Mohamed Irfan Refai – Estimating the Operator’s Payloads by Means of Personalized Neuromechanical Models
• Jesus Orti -Extending the capabilities of active exoskeletons: actuation and control strategies Advanced Robotics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
• Stefano Toxiri – Occupational exoskeletons: Proteso’s experience and thoughts on achieving their impact on a global scale
• Emanuele Palazzi – Fully actuated lower-limb exoskeleton for operators’ assistance and power augmentation in Industry 4.0: RoboSuits state-the-art and case studies
• Shirley Elprama – Towards sustainable exoskeletons and user acceptance.
• Philipp Beckerle/Rodrigo Velasco – Human-centered Exoskeletons: Enhancing Design and Control through User Involvement

Demonstrations:

• LEX – The Light Exoskeleton by Robosuits
• Proteso Exoskeleton by Proteso
• Exo4Work, a prototype from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, VUB (reference: Kevin De Pauw)
• AGtuator, a prototype from the University of Verona (reference: Andrea Calanca)
• EMG-based control testbed, a prototype from the University of Verona (reference: Andrea Calanca)

Registration and Additional Information:

Visit the workshops’ website: https://metropolis.scienze.univr.it/ieee-case-2024-workshop-on-industrial-exoskeletons/

About the Ltair Robotics Lab:

Altair Robotics Laboratory is an Italian Center of Excellence in the research and development of advanced robotic systems.
It was founded in 2001 by computer science Professor Paolo Fiorini concurrently with the establishment of the courses in Automatic Control and Robotics in the Computer Science Department of the University of Verona. website

About the Neuromuscular Robotics Lab:

The Neuromechanical Modeling and Engineering Lab at the University of Twente is part of the Department of Biomechanical Engineering. This research entity in the Netherlands focuses on the interface between robotics technologies and neuromuscular systems with the intent of enhancing human movement for both healthy and impaired individuals. This includes exoskeleton and wearable robotics research. website

About 2024 IEEE 20th International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering(CASE 2024)

It is one of the three flagship conferences of the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society and provides a primary forum for cross-industry multidisciplinary research in automation. CASE 2024 will be held on August 28 – September 1, 2024, in Puglia (or Apulia), Italy.

The conference will focus on Automation 5.0: automation everywhere for better and smarter living and will include tutorials and workshops (including this occupational exoskeleton one), a technical program of presentations, keynote lectures, and social events. The conference will cover a wide range of topics on Systems, Automation, Control theory, Autonomous Systems, Discrete Event Systems, Smart Cities, Robotics, Building Automation, Smart Mobility, Information and Communication Technologies, and Factory 4.0.

Update May 6, 2024. Added the Neuromuscular Robotics Lab at the University of Twente of a co-organizer.