Affiliations: Institute of Ergonomics, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Jonas Schmidtler, Institute of Ergonomics, Technische Universität München, Garching b. München, Bavaria, Germany. Tel.: +49 89 289 15383; E-mail:schmidtler@lfe.mw.tum.de
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Social, technological, and legal changes imply new
solutions to support the human worker in the industrial environment of the
future. OBJECTIVE: Optimizing working conditions by adapting collaborative
assistance systems in terms of human acceptance and well-being. The
Institute of Ergonomics at the Technische Universität München (TUM)
follows this approach with three novel technical solutions: Exoskeletons
(Lifting Aid), collaborative robots (Cobot), and orthosis (Assembly Glove). METHODS: Fundamental scientific knowledge in cognition,
anthropometrics, biomechanics, and physiology provide the basis for
user-oriented designs and investigations via respiratory analysis, motion
tracking, force measuring, and simulation. CONCLUSIONS: The human, with its abilities, flexibility, and
knowledge, will still be the key success factor in future working
environments. Hence holistic approaches that support the human in a
complementary way to raise overall performance have to be evolved to handle
upcoming challenges like demographic change, a diverse workforce, and high
stress jobs.
Keywords: Human Centered Assistance Applications, exoskeleton, collaborative robot, Cobot, orthosis, Human-Robot Interaction, Human-Robot Collaboration, factory of the future
