AWExo – Acceptance and impact of exoskeletons in the construction sector

Status:

completed 12/2025

Aims:

Work in the construction sector is associated with levels of physical loading, and the number of working days lost due to incapacity for work is correspondingly high. The prevailing loading levels on workers, already high, are exacerbated further by the current shortage of skilled workers. Frequent changes in a worker’s location often rule out the use of technical and organisational measures for reducing the levels of physical loading. Exoskeletons are potentially a suitable means of reducing the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). In recent years, a range of such systems have been developed for industrial use. As yet, these have primarily been the subject of pilot tests at stationary workstations in large plants. Strain on the back, caused for example by the manual lifting of loads and work performed with a strongly bent trunk, is also the primary form of this loading in the construction sector. In such scenarios, exoskeletons providing support for the trunk can help to relieve the loading on the back. The use of exoskeletons poses a particular challenge in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are common in the construction sector. The limited logistics resources within the companies, and the work groups, which are often small and required to perform multiple activities, are obstacles to the introduction of exoskeletons into day-to-day work. The current AWExo research project addresses this problem. Its aim is to facilitate purposeful use of exoskeletons for trunk support in companies, and in the process to ensure the greatest possible acceptance among workers. Although numerous laboratory studies have already demonstrated the supportive effects of exoskeletons, their effective benefit during use in the field – particularly in the construction sector – is still largely unknown. The key issues here are the effects of asymmetrical body postures, the achievable overall level of support, possible obstructions to work, and the exoskeletons’ acceptance among workers. As part of a research project conducted jointly by the RIF Institut für Forschung und Transfer e.V. (Institute for Research and Transfer) in Dortmund and the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA), the AWExo project, which received third-party funding, was conducted over a period of two years.

Activities/Methods:

The focus of the IFA’s work in this project lay on biomechanical analysis of the effect of exoskeletons providing support for the trunk during typical activities in the construction industry that place a loading on the back. These activities included the manual handling of loads, and work performed with the trunk bent strongly forwards. With use of a combination of laboratory and field measurements, the IFA determined the effects of two passive exoskeletons, differing in their torque-angle curves, on the musculoskeletal loading on the lower back. Inverse dynamic modelling and electromyography (surface EMG) were employed in selected construction trades. Prior to this, the RIF, together with the IFA and twelve companies involved in the project, organised workshops in which activities and work processes suitable for exoskeleton use were selected on the basis of existing workplace observations and video recordings. The ambient conditions in the construction sector were found to be considerably more complex and variable than in the applications considered to date. The suitability of the selected systems was therefore first tested in simulated scenarios in a laboratory phase. These scenarios included scaffold erection, order picking with use of wire mesh boxes, assembly work with the trunk bent forward, and also welding, paving and bricklaying work performed close to ground level. Based on these findings, the specific activity profiles at the actual workplaces concerned in the participating companies were then recorded over several hours by means of an up-to-date CUELA measurement system comprising an inertial measurement unit (IMU) in conjunction with surface EMG. The measurement data were then used to determine the level of the support effect and the duration of the support as a proportion of the total activity duration.

Results:

With variation according to the activity concerned, the laboratory studies demonstrated significant effects of back loading relief for the exoskeletons studied. These effects ranged from approximately 6% to 26%. They were noted both for the joint moments and intervertebral disc compression forces in the lower lumbar spine, which were determined biomechanically, and for the EMG activity of the back extensors. In the field measurements, use of the exoskeleton led to slightly lower back loading relief of between 4% and 14%. A significant effect specific to the test subject was also observed, with the same activity being performed by different test subjects with significantly different postures. The time component with exoskeleton support varied between 20% and 80%, depending on the field of activity. This parameter correlated with the results of the acceptance survey, with longer proportions of support tending to favour acceptance of the exoskeleton. Overall, the results indicate that successful introduction of exoskeletons in the workplace depends strongly on careful selection of suitable workplaces. This is achieved by ensuring that the exoskeleton delivers the greatest possible perceptible loading relief with the lowest possible obstruction.

Last Update: