What has a company specialising in helping humans regain movement and driving athlete performance at the Paralympic Games got to do with the future of industrial and logistics?
Well it turns out, quite a lot. Ottobock, a family-owned business which defines itself as ‘a company that makes people move’ has been producing prosthetics, orthoses and wheelchairs since 1919 to help people regain or enhance their movement. A proud partner of the Paralympics, with which it has collaborated since Seoul 1988, today Ottobock is a major pioneer in technology for wearable human bionics, which enhance or replace parts of the human body.
Products such as exoskeletons, designed for lifting and support functions, are increasingly being used where humans are still required to serve the ‘last metre’. These wearable solutions help workers as they perform strenuous activities, such as working above shoulder height in production settings or lifting heavy objects.
Improving workforce retention
The pressure has been mounting for industries such as the logistics, retail, automotive and aviation sectors, as a combination of sick leave and demographic change turn the skilled worker shortage into a Europe-wide problem. In the logistics sector, for example, employees are missing an average of 25 days of work a year due to illness. A large proportion of these absences can be attributed to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) such as back pain, which are brought on by lifting and carrying loads. In Germany alone, MSDs cause losses of €17.2 bn in production and €30.5 bin in gross value added every year, according to research from the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
‘At present, the professional world is being transformed by the concept of new work, and this idea cannot simply stop short at blue-collar workers,’ suggests Martin Böhm, chief experience officer at Ottobock. ‘Our colleagues in the production, trade and retail sectors want more freedom of self-determination in their work too. Giving blue-collar workers the option to use exoskeletons has the potential to be a real milestone here. These assistance systems serve as a literal support for hardworking people – and what’s more, they are very comfortable.’
Devices produced by Ottobock include the BackX model, specifically aimed at logistics employees who need to move loads manually while retaining their flexibility. The exoskeleton reduces the load on the lower back by an average of 60% during lifting tasks while allowing for a high degree of freedom of movement, according to the firm, so that they can still operate forklift trucks or climb stairs while wearing the gear. It is currently used at multiple DB Schenker logistical centres.
Another device, the shoulder model, supports employees in performing strenuous activities above shoulder height and is currently used at Airbus, Deutsche Bahn and Toyota North America. The SNCF, the French national railway company, has also adopted the exoskeleton to increase efficiency in the maintenance of its TGV trains.
‘We see our exoskeletons as a natural extension of the body,’ says David Duwe, vice president Ottobock Bionic Exoskeletons Europe. ‘They use “energy harvesting” technology based on biomechanical principles to redirect and temporarily store forces in the body. And that’s not all: our ultra-lightweight, battery-free exoskeletons can be put on and taken off in less than 30 seconds.’
A dirty job
Another successful application of robotics is in ‘dirty’ work where harsh chemicals or dangerous environments put human workers at risk. A company pioneering advancements in this area is Comau, which has been anticipating EU legislation with some of its solutions.
The Italian company recently unveiled a robot-driven system that fully automates the entire process of dismantling worn-out electric batteries using a flexible, repeatable and standardisable process. The solution is part of the firm’s contribution to the EU’s recently renewed Flexible Battery Dismantling (Flex-BD) project, promoting a circular economy for the growing use of electric batteries in vehicles. Working towards EU targets for the second year running, Comau said it had expanded the scope to include second life repurposing of automotive batteries.
Solutions like this represent a significant improvement to manual handling processes that often include repetitive and heavy tasks in addition to contact with potentially harmful substances. It therefore makes the recovery of battery modules and their components more efficient and sustainable while having a positive impact on workers’ health and safety, according to Comau research.
‘Our work with the Flex-BD project leverages Comau’s long standing automation expertise in the development of flexible, scalable and sustainable processes,’ says Pietro Gorlier, CEO at Comau. ‘By expanding our smart automation solution to include second life repurposing of high-power batteries, many of which have a residual capacity of up to 80%, Comau is making a concrete contribution to the realization of truly sustainable mobility.’
With Flex-BD, battery packs are introduced into the specialized cell where a high-payload industrial robot automatically executes its path and changes its end-effectors based on the required application. In a typical recycling application, for example, the robot unscrews the battery cover, changes grippers to remove the cover, re-attaches the screwdriver to unscrew the modules and then using its gripper moves the pieces to a dedicated storage area. What’s more, Flex-BD is designed around a programming approach based on a reduced use of codes, state-of-the-art environmental perception techniques and the robot’s reactive capacity.
