JackEx: the new digital manufacturing resource for optimization of Exoskeleton-based factory environments

The employment of Exoskeletons for manual handling work in manufacturing industries aims at increased employment, productivity, safety and security at workplace. This paper highlights several challenges, current results and future steps of our work in optimization of Exoskeleton-based factory environments. JackEx is the enhancement of the standard digital humanoid Jack with concepts and elements of passive Exoskeletons. For the development of JackEx, a new digital manufacturing resource, the intimate coupling of the Exoskeleton digital model to the humanoid Jack components was realized. First the CAD model of the Exoskeleton was decomposed in its elementary compound parts, by creating its corresponding kinematic model. As the next step, the coupling of Exoskeleton digital models to the humanoid was a real challenge since the humanoid and Exoskeleton kinematics are heterogeneous and autonomous. In order to define a common kinematic model of humanoid with integrated Exoskeleton, complex calculus and tests were performed resulting in a new kinematic model. JackEx was deeper validated in a virtual and digital environment through real test cases simulations. The comparison between the simulation results with those performed for the same task but without integrated Exoskeleton, revealed from an ergonomically perspective the benefits of employing the Exoskeleton in manufacturing factories. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.