A Cost-Effective Lightweight Hip Exoskeleton for Material Handling

With many work-related musculoskeletal disorders attributed to manual material handling, developing assistive technologies has become crucial for injury prevention and workforce sustainability. While existing exoskeletons demonstrate biomechanical benefits, their high cost and excessive weight remain critical barriers to widespread adoption. Therefore, this study proposes a cost-effective, lightweight hip exoskeleton for material handling designed to provide effective assistance during heavy lifting and reduce the fatigue of wearer. The exoskeleton is constructed using carbon fiber sheets, aluminum alloy load-bearing components, and 3D-printed parts, combined with a hip joint reduced motor, only weighs 3.9kg and costs approximately $350. The design emphasizes ease of disassembly and assembly for quick adjustments and potential upgrades. Controlled by a self-developed drive board, the exoskeleton can deliver an ergonomical assistive torque up to 34 Nm based on the hip joint angle through a predefined torque mapping function at the assist phase during lifting. Lifting tests based on surface electromyography (sEMG) showed that during multiple repetitions, the exoskeleton reduced the activity intensity of the erector spinae by 39% and 14%, and for the hamstring by 12% and 45%, in assisted lifting tests of 5kg and 10kg, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the exoskeleton in reducing musculoskeletal load during manual handling tasks. This research offers an economical and practical solution for applications in logistics handling and other related fields.