A comparative muscular assessment of the exoskeleton in a scaffold building operation, case study.
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The muscle evaluation of this case study was applied to a group of workers from the Colombian company, Enel-Codensa. To achieve this, eight muscles were evaluated in which electromyography (EMG) was used in 20 volunteer participants, consisting of 12 electrical technicians and eight volunteers. The aim of the study was to determine whether a decrease in muscular effort occurred when the workers used the exoskeleton, to compare experienced and inexperienced subjects, and ultimately to analyze whether muscular activity varied with the use of an exoskeleton. As a result, muscular effort was lower in all the muscles when using the exoskeleton. However, the activity remained above 10% of muscular effort on average, which can generate muscular fatigue such activity is maintained during an 8-hour day. The analysis showed that there is no difference when performing the activity with or without an exoskeleton except for the flexor carpi radialis muscle. Alternatively, when comparing the two groups, experts, and novices, it was found that the muscular activity of the experts was greater by 1%. As the study was performed, it was found that among this group, there was an equality of measurements in six of the eight muscles. In conclusion, the scaffold erection test demonstrated muscular effort in the forearm and arm for both samples. To reduce this muscular effort, it is recommended to provide tools or redesign the task.
Sebastián Peláez Gómez, Institución Universitaria Politécnico Grancolombiano, Escuela de Optimización, infraestructura y automatización, Bogotá, Colombia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3399-9135
Oscar D. Martínez Bernal, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Departamento de Ingeniería Electrónica, Bogotá, Colombia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5336-4583
Rodrigo Muñoz, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Departamento de Ingeniería Sistemas, Bogotá, Colombia
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0522-4834
Christian R. Zea, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial, Bogotá, Colombia.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0987-6212
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