Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Annual Report 2017 Annual Report | Page 7

a prototype of an exosuit employees could wear to help make lifting products easier. “Over the past cou- ple of years, human assistive devices have become an area of interest,” Asbeck said. “Our technol- ogy is different in that it includes soft and flexible elements, and our approach is unique in that we are putting our proto- types in a real-world environment for an extended period of time.” Asbeck, along with four undergraduate and four graduate students in the Assistive Robotics Laboratory, has since been design- ing a soft, lightweight exosuit intended to reduce the fatigue some Lowe’s employees may experience while on the job, which frequently requires lifting and moving heavy or bulky products. As the user bends and stands back up, the suit’s carbon fiber legs act like a bow and arrow, storing the user’s energy then returning it to them. This helps the user spring back up with greater ease. The first four suits are currently in use by the stocking team at the Christiansburg store. “As a way to support our employees, we found a unique opportunity to collaborate with Virginia Tech to develop one of the first retail applica- tions for robotic exosuits,” said Kyle Nel, exec- utive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, which launched the exosuit project as a way to make working in stores easier and more efficient, there- by improving employee well-being and customer service. For Lowe’s Christiansburg store manager Joe Sirico, employee safety during those everyday tasks is a top priority, making the debut of the exosuits in his store a welcome opportunity. Sirico, who recently moved to the New River Valley from the Washington, D.C., area, said he was look- ing forward to a partnership with Virginia Tech. “This project really pairs a company like ours that has been doing business and has been a part of this community for many, man y years with an institution like Tech, and takes those two worlds and smashes them together, and we both come out stronger,” Sirico said. Following the initial pilot program, Lowe’s will sur- vey the impact of the program and look for oppor- tunities to scale up. Meanwhile, in Asbeck’s lab, the team will continue developing the technology and look for additional applications. “My objective from day one is to make it work for Lowe’s,” Asbeck said. “Beyond that, my primary con- cern is always getting research into the real world and being as useful to society as possible.” Asbeck was recently awarded the Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Engineering Career Development Program’s Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences training grant, a $135,000 award that will fund Asbeck’s further study in exoskeleton use, particularly for rehabilitation. Previously, Asbeck was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop a soft exosuit for soldiers that assists human motion. Our approach is unique in that we are putting our prototypes in a real-world environment for an extended period of time Alan Asbeck