Exo technologies
Rapid advances in exo technologies have sparked interest among innovators across multiple industries. With the potential to reduce injuries and fatigue in the workplace, pioneers are seeing benefits from improved wellbeing and quality of work to reduced costs of worker compensation. Meanwhile, medical devices are offering both rehabilitation and everyday mobility gains to people suffering from disabilities, illnesses, or injuries.
Exo Technology Center of Excellence
Established in 2019, the ASTM International Exo Technology Center of Excellence (ET CoE) is a collaboration between ASTM (and its more than 30,000 members) and consumers, industry, government, healthcare, and academia. The ET CoE seeks to improve the quality of life and participation of all people through accelerating exo technology research, standards, testing, and training.
9 draft standards
Last year the ASTM Exo Technology Center of Excellence (Exo CoE) submitted nine draft standards.
13 projects
The ET CoE has 13 projects currently underway, addressing both standards gaps and new standards.
Through its programs and outreach, the Exo Technologies Center of Excellence is not only developing standards to assure users that exo skeletons are safe, reliable and effective, but to build the capabilities and resources for these technologies to enhance and improve many more lives.
- standards
ASTM F3444/F3444M-20
This practice establishes the minimum training requirements, including general knowledge, skills, and abilities, for personnel who use an exoskeleton as part of their duties. This practice applies only to exoskeletons and exosuits.
VIEW ON ASTMASTM F3517-21
This practice provides a structure for documenting test methods used to evaluate exoskeleton success criteria during a requested movement task and to ensure the movements can be completed to the criteria specified by the test requestor. The practice describes movement tasks, such as walking, running, transitioning, crawling, climbing, jumping, and combinations thereof, while not wearing and wearing an exoskeleton and while not handling or handling loads. The practice includes designs for a movement apparatus, and the appendix provides design details.
VIEW ON ASTMASTM F3527-21
When implementing exoskeletons in real-world work environments, exoskeleton interaction with various components of a given task and its environment can generate a number of risks. This guide provides guidance for conducting contextual risk assessment. A working document is provided in Appendix X1 to allow initiation of the risk assessment process. It can be used to describe tasks, break the tasks down into task elements, anticipate related harm scenarios (a series of typical harm scenarios are provided), assess related risks, and detect scenarios that may require further analysis or implementation of risk reduction measures.
VIEW ON ASTMASTM F3540-21
This guide lists typical hazards that should be considered by exoskeleton producers when analyzing and managing potential risks related to exoskeletons. Where possible, this guide provides references to agency standards, regulations, or guidelines for assessment of risks related to these hazards and for application of risk reduction measures. This guide applies to all exoskeleton types, regardless of the applications of the technology such as consumer, industrial, medical, military, and emergency management services.
VIEW ON ASTM
advisory services
Bridging the gap between R&D and sustained commercial success by harnessing standards to optimum effect can be complex and challenging for those working in emerging technologies like exo technologies. Events move quickly, and established processes don’t always apply. For this reason, we offer Advisory Services to organizations to help them make rapid and effective progress. The four areas we cover are:
1. Technical and strategic consulting on new developments and trends.
2. Roadmapping (often aligning technology and standards roadmaps).
3. Product development workshops and liaison.
4. Bespoke analysis and technical reports – often impacting investment or M&A decisions.
key contacts
education and training
Education and training is a further key strand of our exo technologies work. Leveraging expertise from industry, academia, and government, the we are creating and delivering a growing range of courses and events to support the exo community.
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