PROJECTS

“To accelerate exo technology research, standards, testing, and training by building trust and confidence, creating strong global partnerships, and creating a knowledge center.”

Research-to-Standards (R2S)

ASTM’s conceptual framework is based on the idea that standards should be constructed and integrated with high-quality, objective research.

The ET CoE plans to identify, evaluate, and prioritize key topics to form the foundation of a research-to-standards roadmap with input from government agencies, regulators, and subcommittee chairs in ASTM International’s Committee on Exoskeletons and Exosuits (F48). The roadmap will help facilitate the development of much needed, high-value standards to benefit the global exo community.

R2S Projects

Approved Standards under ASTM Committee F48

• F3578 Standard Test Method for Evaluating Exoskeleton Fall Risk due to Stumbling

• F3771 Standard Practice for Utilizing Digital Human Modeling in Exoskeleton Design and Application

• F3612 Standard Practice for Lower Extremity Exoskeleton Locomotion Transitions

Standards Under Development Under ASTM Committee F48

Standard Guide for Assessment of Exoskeleton Users’ Attentional Performance

This standard provides guidance on the methods that can be used to assess potential changes in the user's attentional performance associated with exoskeleton use. Changes in attentional performance may affect the user's task performance and could have potential implications for the user's safety and the cognitive fit of the system. As such, it is essential to have a standard assessment procedure and measures that can be used to evaluate these aspects while using an exoskeleton in an industrial setting.

Standard Specification for Minimum Performance Criteria for Muscle Activation During  Overhead Activities While Wearing Exoskeletons Intended to Support the Shoulder Joint

Minimum performance criteria for exoskeletons are established by selecting the user-centric performance metrics most appropriate for a specific exoskeleton and task type, such as muscle activation or torque, while excluding metrics that are not relevant to the intended application. This standard focuses solely on user-centric physiological measures and does not address mechanical or computational performance metrics, which are covered by other standards. It defines minimum performance criteria and associated test methods for exoskeletons designed to support body joints during representative task classes, including required tasks, procedures, participant selection, performance metrics, and analysis methods. Specifically, this standard addresses shoulder-support exoskeletons (both active and passive) used during overhead work, such as lifting objects or operating tools overhead for sustained periods. Performance is evaluated based on shoulder muscle activation during these activities, and the scope is limited to impacts on the joint(s) the exoskeleton is intended to support, even if effects occur elsewhere in the body.

Practice for Application of Variable Terrains when using Exoskeletons

This standard will detail practices for evaluating mobility of an exoskeleton wearer (i.e., locomotion, traversal) over variable terrains including characteristics of slope (e.g., flat, inline, decline), substrate (e.g., paneling, sand, gravel), elevation (e.g., stairs, raised cobblestones), and movement (e.g., forward walking, sidestepping, agile movement). The practice applicable to the evaluation of exoskeletons to determine if they improve and/or interfere with wearer mobility. The various terrains that are specified are characterized in the standard according to the impacts they may have on exoskeleton wearer mobility and movement patterns (e.g., ankle pitch and roll, joint stiffness, center of mass displacement). The practice includes standard apparatus designs that are scalable for user purposes with minimum dimensional requirements to ensure appropriate exoskeleton wearer performance.

Standards Developed from the ET CoE Exo Games

Standard Test Method for Exoskeleton Use: Public Safety or Response: Tool Handling for Breaching

The purpose of this test method, as a part of a suite of exoskeleton-use test methods that specifically apply to public safety or response, is to quantitatively evaluate an exoskeleton safety and/or performance for manipulating of a heavy handheld tool to interact with the environment in various poses.

Rapid Development of Exoskeleton Test Method Standards

Responsible Partner: Smart HLPR

The following list of standards topics, from ASTM committee on Task Performance and Environmental Considerations (F48.03) Roadmap of Standards to Develop, will be used to guide completed drafts to go to ASTM ready for evaluation and testing.

• F3528 Test method for exoskeleton use: gait

• F3581 Test method for exoskeleton use: hurdles

• F3582 Test method for exoskeleton use: gaps

• F3584 Test method for exoskeleton use: obstacle avoidance: Walking

• F3580 - Test method for exoskeleton use: stairs

• F3747 Standard Test Method for Exoskeleton Use: Crawling

Metrology for Emerging Technology, Robotics, and Exoskeletons (METRE) intended for Industry and Public Safety

Responsible Partner: NIST

The goal of METRE is to develop a set of user-defined requirements in the application of exoskeletons within the domain of emergency response. The pre-normative research will lead to standard test methods to evaluate performance of exoskeletons in two key areas: the fit and motion of the exoskeleton device with respect to the users’ body and the impact that using an exoskeleton has on the performance of users executing tasks that are representative of activities of first responders.

Longitudinal Health Effects of Shoulder Exoskeletons in the Manufacturing Sector

Responsible Partner: NIOSH

A longitudinal design will be adopted to assess the health effects of existing passive shoulder exoskeleton users for repetitive overhead assembly work in a manufacturing setting. Aggregated injury and associated workers’ compensation cost information will be collected over a two-year period. A subset of study participants randomly selected from the study cohort will undergo shoulder and back functional assessments at their work sites. The aggregated injury/workers’ compensation information and shoulder functional information will be collected by participating companies at three time points: baseline, one-year follow-up, and two-year follow-up.

NIOSH investigators are responsible for recruiting the selected subjects for the shoulder and back functional tests. A NIOSH-funded contractor will conduct the back functional assessment at study sites using the clinical lumbar motion monitor at two time points (baseline and one-year follow-up). Injury and workers’ compensation data will be submitted to NIOSH through a website created and managed by ASTM. NIOSH investigators will receive de-identified data that will not be linkable to a specific company or participant. The aggregated injury/workers’ compensation information will be analyzed and interpreted by pooling data across multiple sites of multiple participating companies.

In addition, quantitative statistical analyses of the aggregated outcome measures will be performed for determining statistical differences between the study groups. The study will assess three types of outcomes:

• Number of musculoskeletal injury cases, lost work time, and workers’ compensation costs (medical and indemnity) for the cases;

• Identifiable changes in shoulder function; and

• Risk of impaired back function of study participants.

The study data will be made anonymous, and no personal data of the users will be shared. ASTM will collect, house, and manage data submitted from external resources related to safety concerns and injury incidents tied to exoskeleton usage. Some industries participating in this study include aerospace, military, automotive, and manufacturing.

Currently, ASTM has created a secure Sharepoint site for the data and is actively pursuing data usage agreements with the study participants.