Guardian^® XO^® Exoskeleton Use Case: Material Handling for Assembly and Manufacturing

Much of the material handling in assembly and manufacturing comes down to lifting and placing. You can provide your employees' equipment like hoists, tugs, pushcarts, and lift-assist devices, but some manual loading, unloading, lifting, sorting, moving, and stacking is inevitable.

Team lifts with two or three people are often the quickest way to stage and manipulate heavy, bulky components for assembly. But team lifts lower your per-person productivity, and the more you rely on human labor for heavy lifting, the higher your risk of expensive, work-related injuries to the back, shoulder, or wrist. Besides, even the strongest workers are limited in the number of times per day they can lift and move massive parts.

Innovation managers, operational leads, and manufacturing engineers are continually looking for ways to speed up material handling tasks while improving worker safety. They’re trying to navigate the trade-off between the lines-per-hour quotas set to encourage workers and the lift limits set to protect them.

What if you could combine the judgment and physical flexibility of warehouse workers with robotics that enables them to lift goods of varying shapes and sizes?

The Guardian XO full-body, powered exoskeleton is designed to boost productivity, minimize the risk of workplace injury, and enable employees to lift and move heavier loads by themselves. Engineered for heavy lifting, the suit utilizes robotics, sensors, and software to help workers move goods up to 200 pounds (90 kg) in warehouses and distribution centers.

The exoskeleton is ideal for items that fall into the gap between small, easily manipulated pieces and non-conveyable goods requiring mechanical assistance. Like a robotic suit, the exoskeleton is worn by the operator and reacts to their natural movements, augmenting the ordinary motion of limbs and joints with extraordinary strength.

Because the exoskeleton is modeled on the human body, it is easy to learn and intuitive to operate. It offers the operator optimal maneuverability in warehouse and order fulfillment settings, with an effortless command of heavy objects in many shapes and sizes. Since the operator’s judgment and expertise guide the suit movements, the exoskeleton fits naturally into unstructured environments right alongside humans — without the special programming or configuration required for fixed lift-assist equipment.

These scenarios illustrate how the full-body, powered exoskeleton can help boost productivity, mitigate worker overexertion, and reduce injury risk in materials handling. It is especially effective in small-batch, high-mix assembly, and manufacturing environments where automation may not be possible.

• Unloading inbound boxes and crates (shipping and receiving) — Heavy, oversized parts must often be lifted out of boxes and crates or depalletized and moved to inventory staging areas or directly to workstations for use in the assembly process. Box and crate sizes are not always reliable indicators of content weight, and many shipments arrive without weight labels, leaving workers at risk of lift-related injury when unpacking them. Using the Guardian XO exoskeleton, a single worker can lift and transport parts that would otherwise require a team lift or a lift assist.
• Manipulating parts and operating heavy tools during assembly — In areas with limited access, heavy hand tools replace automated machines for tasks like drilling and riveting. The Guardian XO exoskeleton acts as a force multiplier in hands-free mode. With the ability to lock the arms in place, it is designed to enable sustained, repetitive lifting, holding, and operation of heavy tools for workers of nearly any size and strength, even in awkward positions. The net result is a reduction in physical strain and fatigue.
• Welding — Manual welding jobs on long surfaces require workers to intermittently stop, reposition their equipment, and resume, which can affect the integrity of the weld. Both manual and robotic welds require grinding, an exhausting task characterized by the harsh vibration of the grinder. The steadiness and precision of the Guardian XO exoskeleton allow the welder to eliminate the start-stop in long, manual welds and operate the grinder with far less physical stress.
• Kitting industrial equipment — In small-batch, high-mix industrial manufacturing, customers tend to buy a varying combination of parts that are prepared and shipped out as kits. Workers wearing a Guardian XO exoskeleton can pick and load individual, bulky parts in the kitting process, then move the final kit to stage in a single crate or carton.

• Supplements human labor in heavy lifting, allowing the operator to move naturally with 24 degrees of freedom
• Features hot-swappable batteries as its onboard power source for near-continuous operation
• Enables safe lifting of up to 200 pounds (90 kg), regardless of size or strength of the operator
• Allows manipulation of bulky, awkward components on plant floors and factories, especially where standard lift-assist equipment is impractical or hazardous
• Reduces strain on body parts most prone to injury from vibration, repetitive motion, and heavy physical exertion, including shoulders, back, and wrists
• Minimizes physical strain and overexertion by offloading the weight of the carried part or tool, plus the weight of the robotic suit itself