Collaborative Tasks in Construction: A Model for Human-Exoskeleton Interaction to Minimize Muscle Exertion

In the EU, 75% of buildings are energy inefficient, emphasizing the priority of their renovations or upgrades to reach the EU’s decarbonization goals. However, renovating existing buildings frequently entails physically demanding tasks, which can result in worker injuries, reduced productivity, and health issues. This document highlights the potential of using exoskeleton technology in collaborative tasks. These approaches’ effectiveness was assessed using two methods: electromyography (EMG) to assess muscular activity levels and a real-time motion tracking system to observe object manipulation. A muscle activation assessment was conducted on ten participants, analyzing four muscles across two distinct phases of the collaborative task. The results indicate that 55% of these cases displayed positive changes marked by a reduction in muscle activity when exoskeletons were employed. In 27.5% of the cases, no significant changes were observed; while 17.5% resulted in unfavorable outcome.