Abstract

The use of exoskeleton systems is a reality in the automotive industry, especially where there are manual handling and carrying tasks, overhead work and increased endurance time of static postures with elevated arms. The exoskeleton was introduced throughout the industrialized world as a new strategy to reduce the risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the working population. This chapter presents a usability evaluation for exoskeleton in the automotive industry, describing methods and techniques for user interface tests. The usability test was performed with a passive upper limb exoskeleton at the assembly sector along a normal production workday with the participation of experts and operators performing routine tasks, in order to properly assess effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction measurements. The issues addressed in this chapter aimed at testing, identifying the specification of the subjects, usability assessments through questionnaires, interviews and task sequences, and presentation of results. Some of the results identified the acceptances of the equipment, and what does and does not work under industrial constraints, thus providing a broader overview, demonstrating the practicality of industry-based usability evaluation for exoskeleton systems.