Exoskeletons in Intralogistics Morphology for the Classification and Systematic, Application-oriented Selection of Exoskeletons

Due to the high physical demands of many manual work activities in intralogistics and the economic consequences of the resulting sickness-related absences, exoskeletons are becoming increasingly important. By physically relieving and actively supporting employees, work tasks can be made more ergonomic and the challenges mentioned can be counteracted. However, the variety of exoskeletons available on the market presents companies with major challenges when it comes to planning and selecting suitable systems. This article therefore presents an exoskeleton morphology that illustrates the different types of exoskeletons and enables the classification of suitable systems. Based on this, the results of a market analysis are visualized. Secondly, a method for the systematic and application-oriented selection of exoskeletons in intralogistics is presented. This method maps the application-specific requirements and ergonomic needs to the morphological characteristics in order to recommend suitable exoskeletons. The method is applied and validated using two intralogistics application examples, container unloading and palletizing. © 2024 Birte Pupkes, Nils Hoppe, Christoph Petzoldt, Michael Freitag, publiziert von De Gruyter.