Modelling and simulation of advanced factory environments integrating intelligent exoskeleton

In order to answer to the challenge of workplace injuries, which brings for the European manufacturing sectors costs up to 4% of GNP, a user-friendly, and cooperative human-robotic exoskeleton for manual handling work has to be developed. For highlighting and revealing the benefits of human-robotic exoskeleton, represented by increased employment and productivity and reduced back injuries, the validation of this concept in digital and virtual environment in several European factories have been performed. This paper presents two validation scenarios of employing the human-robotic exoskeleton in two relevant industry sectors, car disassembly and automotive suppliers. The digital models of the test cases and the simulation of ergonomic workplaces was realised by using state-of-the-art systems which allowed the realisation of two states of factory environment, before employment of the exoskeleton and after.