Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed with WearaCob an intelligent assistance system that connects exoskeleton and collaborative robot (cobot). The goal is to ease physically strenuous tasks in industrial manufacturing and make human-robot collaboration more efficient.

The system developed at the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) consists of a shoulder exoskeleton and a one-armed cobot. While the robot lifts components and detects their weight and center of gravity, it transmits this information in real-time to the exoskeleton. This automatically adjusts the support and specifically relieves the muscles of the users.

Tests show that the system can reduce the exertion of the upper arm muscles by up to 65 percent . Even asymmetric components can be considered by adjusting support individually for both arms.

In addition to physical relief, WearaCob is also intended to simplify the integration of robotics into production processes. The cobot used can be taught by demonstrating instead of programming : employees simply guide the robotic arm through the desired movement – no programming knowledge is required.

With WearaCob, TUM demonstrates how AI, robotics, and intelligent assistance systems can contribute to a more ergonomic and flexible collaboration between humans and machines in the industry in the future.