Exoskeletons are one of the rare applications whose potential might go beyond the healthcare field to address the working conditions of the industry.
They started raising our interest with the growing research on diseases related to muscles and spine. While people with disabilities are often primarily affected – therefore use it for a curative purpose -, it should be noted that operators working in an industrial environment might need it for a preventive purpose.
With this idea in mind, we recently sat down with Diana Hall, Founder & CEO at ActivArmorTM and Dr Matthew Dickinson, Senior Lecturer at The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) to discuss the pain points that can be addressed to simplify the manufacturing process of these devices.
The conversation shed light on:
- The different types of exoskeletons and how they emerged on the market thanks to GE
- The reasons why healthcare providers like ActivArmor repurpose their communication around this topic
- The AM processes that are currently used, that are worth exploring and their challenges
- Holistic experience from both Dickinson and Hall
- The reasons why materials are often one of the hottest topics one comes across in ASTM
- And the differences in measuring performance for applications made for commercial purpose and the ones made for research purpose
Listen to our conversation below: