Hyundai to unveil wearable device for car manufacturing
Jin-Won Kim
5 HOURS AGO
An engineer in a vest-type wearable robot works at a car manufacturing plant (File photo by Hyundai Motor Group) Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s third-largest automaker, plans to unveil a wearable device for car manufacturing to improve productivity and protect workers at its assembly lines by preventing their injuries.
Hyundai Motor Group Robotics Lab is set to provide detailed specifications of a vest-type wearable robot with a weight of only 1.9 kilograms under development, which aims to assist tasks above the user, on Thursday at Hyundai Motor Co.'s Ulsan complex in South Korea.
The robot was designed to assist industrial workers who spend long hours on overhead work. The wearable vest is equipped with a polycentric axis and other parts similar to human joints to reduce muscle or skeletal fatigue from shoulder to elbow.
The device is expected to offer assistive power of 2.2-5 kilograms and torque of 3.8-8.6 newton-meters based on the Vest Exoskeleton (VEX), its prototype, which the South Korean group with two automakers – Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. – unveiled in 2019, industry sources said.
That will allow a user to feel the weight of only 5kg when lifting a 10kg tool above the head, according to the sources.
The VEX did not need a battery as it was designed with a mechanical structure free of the need to charge. The Vest Exoskeleton (VEX) unveiled in 2019 (File photo by Hyundai Motor Group) DEMONSTRATION TEST
Hyundai Motor Group plans to conduct demonstration tests with workers at its plants in South Korea in the second half.
Engineers in charge of overhead works such as chassis, underbody covers and sealers, as well as painters are likely to join the tests.
The group plans to reflect on participants’ feedback on the wearable robot before a launch.
“We plan on-site tests at domestic production lines as a part of wearable robot developments,” said a group official. “We will decide whether to introduce the robot for manufacturing through the demonstration tests.”
The global wearable device industry was expected to quadruple to $10.3 billion by 2029 from an estimated $2.6 billion this year, according to a research firm Mordor Intelligence.