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We present a passive (unpowered) exoskeleton that assists the back during lifting. Our exoskeleton uses carbon fiber beams as the sole means to store energy and return it to the wearer. To motivate the design, we present general requirements for the design of a lifting exoskeleton, including calculating the required torque to support the torso for people of different weights and heights. We compare a number of methods of energy storage for exoskeletons in terms of mass, volume, hysteresis, and cycle life. We then discuss the design of our exoskeleton, and show how the torso assembly leads to balanced forces. We characterize the energy storage in the exoskeleton and the torque it provides during testing with human subjects. Ten participants performed freestyle, stoop, and squat lifts. Custom image processing software was used to extract the curvature of the carbon fiber beams in the exoskeleton to determine the stored energy. During freestyle lifting, it stores an average of 59.3 J and provides a peak torque of 71.7 Nm.

The purpose of this study is to present the experiential learning in the development of a Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence(DARwIn)-High Performance(HP) at Robotics and Mechanism Laboratory(RoMeLa). DARwIn-HP, an miniature-sized humanoid platform, has been developed by self-directed undergraduate students of RoMeLa for robotics in education. They, as the target consumer of educational robots, contributed to the design and manufacturing of the DARwIn-HP by sharing their thoughts on the necessary functionality of an educational humanoid robot. This hands-on experience allows them to understand the fundamental materials of a humanoid robot in theory as well as the usage of mechanical tools in practice. All undergraduates after experiencing the development process also recognize the importance as well as the interests on learning the subjects in the engineering curriculum. As of the final process and post-activity of robot development, encouraging all students to participate in extracurricular activities provides them with a chance of evaluating their work. There are positive effects to engineering students such as enriching their competitiveness for a range of challenges facing society.