Experiments in ergonomic robot-guided manipulation

Repetitive manual materials handling of heavy loads is common in assembly and is a common cause of low back disorders. The manual manipulation of a heavy load may be made more comfortable by constraining the load to move along a guide. The frictionless guide directs the motion of the load to the goal configuration as the human operator provides forces in directions that are comfortable. We present our first experimental results in guided manipulation with the purpose of understanding motions and forces that are comfortable for human operators.