The home improvement retailer is testing exoskeletons on four employees at a Christiansburg, Virginia, store to make it easier to lift objects and stock shelves. Some Lowe's (LOW) employees spend 90% of their time moving and lifting everything from bags of cement to huge buckets of paint.
Wearing the exoskeleton is somewhat similar to putting on a rock climbing harness and a backpack. The suit also includes attached carbon-fiber shafts that run down a person's back and thighs. The shafts flex and store energy as a person bends over to pick something up. When the employee stands, the rods straighten and the energy releases, making the task easier. The process is similar to how a bow releases energy when an arrow is launched.
We got a wearable exoskeleton at work to help stroke and spinal rehab patients. Been getting great reviews.
I think they're also used in Japan for warehouse and shelf-stocking work.
" Hey OP, listen to my advice alright." -Tha General "No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer." -Stigler's Law of Eponymy, discovered by Robert K. Merton MYT
Just great, those Lowe's guys could already move plenty fast in the opposite direction from any heavy loading going on. Now they'll be super swift. Gah.
I can't imagine how wide they're going to have to make the doors at Walmart for super hefty folks wearing one of the handicap versions of these things to go shopping. I think people will be able to pack even more on now that they'll have an extra support system.
