Worker-worn 'Robo-Mate' aims to reduce lifting hazards

Winterthur, Switzerland – A dozen European institutions have teamed up to create robotic technology to help with lifting tasks in the workplace.

The goal of the “Robo-Mate” project is to develop an exoskeleton that workers could wear when performing repetitive or heavy lifting tasks. The worker would guide the exoskeleton, and the robotic parts would take on the lifting burden, thereby reducing worker injuries and increasing productivity, according to a press release from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, one of the groups involved in the project.

The three-year project is being funded by the European Union.