Subjective Evaluation of a Passive Industrial Exoskeleton for Lower-back Support: A Field Study in the Automotive Sector

A passive, low-back support exoskeleton (Laevo) was tested in a four-week field study with workers in several automobile manufacturing workplaces that included both static trunk postures (forward bending) and dynamic repositioning (manual material handling). The aims of the study were to obtain subjective evaluations of the impacts of exoskeleton use, including discomfort, usability, and user acceptance. Workers overall reported a decrease in physical discomfort in the lower back when using the passive exoskeleton, although this decrease was only evident in work requiring static vs. dynamic postures. There was also evidence of a load redistribution, specifically to the chest region, as evidenced by increase wearing discomfort. Workers provided moderate-to-high ratings of perceived usability, though these ratings were lower at the end of the field study, and a similar outcome was found regarding user acceptance (“intention-to-use”) of the exoskeleton. User acceptance was strongly influenced by perceived usability, as well as the level of discomfort experienced when using the exoskeleton.

本研究针对一款被动式腰椎支撑外骨骼（Laevo）开展了为期四周的现场测试，受试对象为多个汽车制造工位的作业人员，这些工位涵盖静态躯干姿态（前屈）与动态姿态调整（人工物料搬运）两类作业场景。研究的核心目标为获取外骨骼使用效果的主观评价，包括佩戴不适程度、易用性与用户接受度。整体而言，作业人员反馈使用该被动式外骨骼后腰部物理不适有所缓解，但该缓解效果仅在静态姿态作业场景中显现，动态姿态作业场景中未观察到显著改善。研究同时发现存在载荷重新分配现象，具体表现为载荷向胸部区域转移，该结论可通过佩戴不适程度的升高得到佐证。作业人员对该外骨骼的易用性给出了中等到较高的评分，但在现场研究结束时该评分有所回落；针对外骨骼的用户接受度（"intention-to-use"）也得到了相似的结果。用户接受度显著受到易用性感知与外骨骼使用过程中不适程度的影响。