The Body Extender: A Full-Body Exoskeleton for Transport and Handling of Heavy Loads

This article introduces and describes an electrically powered full-body (FB) exoskeleton, called the body extender (BE), intended as a research platform for the study of the transport and handling of heavy loads up to 50 kg, with one hand at worst-load conditions (WLCs). The machine features a 22-degrees-of-freedom (DoF) quasi-anthropomorphic kinematic scheme and a modular hardware/software architecture that made it possible to manage the complexity of the system design. Besides providing a context and some general guidelines, which have driven the design of the BE, this article presents the hardware and software developments that have been achieved and implemented in the machine. The experimental results are shown that prove the functionalities of the BE in common operating conditions such as walking, squatting, and handling loads. The one-of-a-kind system demonstrates, in relevant laboratory settings, the feasibility of a complex, electrically powered full-body exoskeleton with such a target payload.