The ergonomic configuration of processes is becoming increasingly important, especially considering the changing demographics and increasing shortage of skilled workers. Exoskeletons are widely discussed as a means of protecting employees from overstraining at the level of personal protective measures. The field of industrial exoskeletons research is still relatively new and has many unanswered questions. For example, there have not yet been sufficient studies on the influence of exoskeletons on the movements of employees. This publication discusses the effects of exoskeletons in manual processes. For this purpose, exemplary physical activities are carried out in a pilot study by a subject collective, whereby the tasks are executed with and without an exoskeleton. During the execution, a motion capturing system is used to record the movement data. Different back-supporting exoskeletons are taken into account in the study. The evaluation is based on the joint angles of the participants while performing tasks with and without exoskeletons. It is shown that the use of exoskeletons has a significant effect on the movement patterns, with a distinction made between rigid and soft support structures.

Takt work represents a significant risk factor for the development of musculoskeletal complaints and diseases, especially in short-cycle processes. The increased risk results primarily from a permanent uniform load on the musculoskeletal system. Studies on motor variability suggest that an increase in load variation can have positive effects on reducing the risk. The research project “Integration of activity-specific load changes to reduce physical stress during takt work” aims to demonstrate the increase in load variation by introducing specific load changes during takt work as a possible means of preventing musculoskeletal disorders without causing negative effects on productivity. For this purpose, a pilot study was already carried out with ten subjects, which is presented in more detail in this paper. As foundation for the description of this study, the given paper first provides background on the applied theoretical concepts as well as the design of the overall research project. This is followed by the presentation of the experimental procedure and the results of the pilot study on cyclic assembly. Based on the stress profiles determined via surface electromyography the sequence of the analysed reference assembly process is reconfigured in order to integrate load changes. Future investigations within the research project are planned to compare both processes in terms of risk surrogate parameters for musculoskeletal disorders.