Electromyography Assessment of the Assistance Provided by an Upper-Limb Exoskeleton in Maintenance Tasks

In this paper, the analysis of the intensity of muscle activations in different subjects when they perform an industrial task in a repetitive way assisted by a robotic upper-limb exoskeleton is presented. To do that, surface electromyography (EMG) signals were monitored with and without a robotic up...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Andrea Blanco, José María Catalán, Jorge Antonio Díez, José Vicente García, Emilio Lobato, Nicolás García-Aracil
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-08-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/15/3391
Description
Summary:In this paper, the analysis of the intensity of muscle activations in different subjects when they perform an industrial task in a repetitive way assisted by a robotic upper-limb exoskeleton is presented. To do that, surface electromyography (EMG) signals were monitored with and without a robotic upper-limb exoskeleton for 10 subjects during a drilling task, a typical tedious maintenance or industrial task. Our results show that wearing the upper-limb exoskeleton substantially reduces muscle activity during a drilling task above head height. Specifically, there is statistically significant differences in the pectoralis major and rhomboids muscles between the groups wearing or not wearing the robotic upper-limb exoskeleton.
ISSN:1424-8220