Wearable exoskeletons can reduce physical stress in the workplace and help protect employees from injury, but the technology is not yet widely available. New research published in Pro Swan Here’s why, according to engineers at the University of Texas at El Paso: This technology remains too complex and unwieldy for routine use.
“Our study suggests that an important factor that influences the success of exoskeletons may be largely overlooked: how easily they can be assembled, put on and taken off,” said Dr. Arunkumar Pennathur of UTEP, who led the study. “The exoskeletons that are successful in the workplace may not be the most sophisticated, but they are ones that workers can actually navigate quickly and accurately.”
Pennathur is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering, where he leads a UTEP lab focused on human performance and behavior. One of its goals is to help workers in high-stakes industries such as health care, manufacturing, and construction.
The study evaluated four occupational exoskeleton systems currently on the market (Ironhand, Chairless Chair, Scalex, and Laevo) and examined how long it took participants to assemble, put on, remove, and disassemble each device. The UTEP team also analyzed the number of steps in the procedure, the number of parts involved, and any usability issues users encountered during setup.
They found that the simplest device required 39 steps to set up, while the most complex required 110 steps. Each additional step increased completion time, with assembly times ranging from 6.5 to 25 minutes, but usability issues further degraded performance, resulting in single-device failure rates of up to 49%.
A device that may be convenient to wear from a biomechanical perspective is useless if it takes 30 minutes to assemble or requires a second person to put it on. ”
Arunkumar Pennatur, University of Texas at El Paso
This study was conducted in a laboratory environment with engineering students as participants and sufficient time available.
“The logical next step is to test these devices under real-world conditions, with real workers, time pressures, busy environments, and repeated use across shifts, where setup time really starts to add cost,” said lead co-author Jessica Sánchez Valandran.
The researchers hope their findings will help guide the next generation of exoskeleton designs for manufacturers looking to take exoskeleton technology from the lab to the field. Even if exoskeletons effectively reduce physical strain, workers may be reluctant to use them if setup is time-consuming, confusing, or error-prone, the researchers said. As a result, usability has become a significant barrier to workplace adoption.
“Our message to designers is this: reduce the number of steps, eliminate the need for special tools or body measurements, incorporate self-adjusting connections, provide clear ‘I got it right’ feedback, and ensure one person can do all the work,” Pennasser said.
Contributing to the study are UTEP students Alejandra Martinez Fernández and Laura Tovar, and associate professor Dr. Priyadarshini Pennatur.
sauce:
University of Texas El Paso
Reference magazines:
Sánchez Balandran, J. others. (2026) Task complexity in exoskeleton setup and takedown: procedural and usability issues as predictors of deployment performance. Pro Swan. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0348001. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0348001.
