Comau has conducted a pilot study for the adoption of wearable MATE-XT and MATE-XB exoskeletons.

MATE-XT helps to reduce the muscle load of the upper limbs during static or repetitive activities, which require workers to keep their arms raised for extended periods of time, while MATE-XB relieves the muscle effort of the lumbar area when handling loads.

The field tests were carried out over a period of 6 months with 12 workers employed in the port area of Livorno who wore MATE exoskeletons during their daily work.

Manual, non-automatable activities such as loading-unloading goods, moving heavy loads along the dock, lashing or unlashing containers on board ships can be extremely tiring for the operators.

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The support of wearable exoskeletons, such as MATE-XT and MATE-XB, helps reduce physical stress and the risk of triggering potentially disabling musculoskeletal diseases over time. To confirm this, in the initial phase of the project instrumental measurements on the muscle activity of the workers were conducted.

These same workers were asked, through questionnaires, to directly assess the sensation of fatigue perceived with the use of MATE exoskeletons.

 Not only did the workers warmly embrace these new technologies, they have recognised the positive impact the exoskeletons can have on their activities and performance.

It has been shown that the MATE-XT upper limb exoskeleton and the MATE-XB lumbar device can reduce the effort of operators by up to 30%.