Design Factors and Developing Lower-Limb Exoskeleton for Older Farmers

Objective: The aim of this study was to define the design factors of a lower-limb wearable exoskeleton that aids in reducing the workloads of elderly farmers.BRBackground: Musculoskeletal disorders related to agricultural work have been raised as a very important problem as the aging population progresses. Especially, the loads of back and lower-limb caused by squatting, and awkward posture like knee or back flexion posture are serious problems because most of the agricultural work consists of atypical work. Therefore, the need to develop a wearable lower-limb assistance device that can reduce the load on the lower extremities caused by agricultural work has recently emerged.BRMethod: In this study, the design of the lower-limb wearable exoskeleton device was classified into three parts: