STTR Phase I: Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Assist Device for Reducing the Risk of Back Injuries among Workers

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project seeks to create exoskeleton assist devices for workers in distribution centers and automobile assembly plants. By using these assistive devices, workers can dramatically reduce the load in the vertebrae of the lower back when maneuvering parts and boxes. Such collaboration between humans and machines has the benefit of the intellectual advantage of humans coupled with the strength advantage of machines. The proposed project involves the University of California at Berkeley as research partner, General Motors Corporation, and the U.S. Postal Service. The end goal is a reduction in back injuries in the workplace which are considered by OSHA the nation?s number one workplace safety problem. The broader impacts of this research are reduced worker's compensation insurance costs, reduced disability payments, increased worker productivity, and the ability for workers to keep working into their older years; in short, improve worker quality of life. Furthermore, these new devices will open an entirely new market which will serve an important role in establishing the United States as the number one player in the emerging field of bionics. The potential impacts to worker safety and American quality of life are large and diverse.