AugmentX lab to improve ergonomics of exoskeletons

Demonstration of an exoskeleton © Tom Turcksin Brubotics - The Flanders Make AugmentX research lab at VUB will open on Thursday. The scientists of BruBotics, the Brussels Human Robotics Research Center, will work with exoskeletons and other technologies that support physical labour. The team use a variety of high-tech devices to redefine ergonomics. Motion capture, force plates, load cells and many other sensors for measuring biometric data allow researchers to measure work and physical effort in new ways. AugmentX will use both mobile and high-precision static measurement infrastructure to support a range of research projects that require measurement of forces and/or motion. Various projects are already under way, with the goal of further integrating infrastructure and expanding existing capacities. The movement of and forces on the human body as a result of physical labour, with or without an exoskeleton, can be projected onto 600 muscles via a biomechanical model.