- Hyundai Motor and Kia unveil wearable robotic ‘X-ble Shoulder’ to spice up industrial effectivity and cut back musculoskeletal accidents
- The wearable robotic is designed to help with overhead work by enhancing higher arm muscle power and is predicted to seek out use in varied industries
- The robust but light-weight X-ble Shoulder enhances employee consolation by lowering shoulder load by 60% and muscle exercise by 30%
- Hyundai Motor and Kia’s Robotics LAB additionally introduced a commercialization plan for X-ble Shoulder, with deliveries anticipated to start within the first half of 2025
Hyundai Motor Firm and Kia Company have unveiled a dependable companion for industrial work, the wearable robotic ‘X-ble Shoulder.’ This machine, simply by being worn, can improve employees’ effectivity and cut back musculoskeletal accidents. Two movies launched on Hyundai Motor Group’s YouTube channel present the X-ble Shoulder in motion, together with product options and the growth story.
Hyundai Motor and Kia unveiled the X-ble Shoulder at Wearable Robotic Tech Day held on the Hyundai Motorstudio Goyang close to Seoul. The X-ble model — a mix of ‘X,’ symbolizing infinite potential, and ‘in a position,’ indicating that something could be realized — heralds a brand new period in wearable expertise.
The X-ble Shoulder, the primary product within the X-ble line, is an industrial wearable robotic developed by Hyundai Motor and Kia’s Robotics LAB. It heralds a brand new period in wearable expertise. When utilized in ‘overhead work’ the place the arm is raised, it may possibly help the person’s higher arm muscle power and cut back the burden on the higher extremity musculoskeletal system.
Hyundai Motor and Kia anticipate the X-ble Shoulder will discover use in varied industries, together with building, shipbuilding, aviation and agriculture, not simply vehicles. Following its home launch, the businesses plan to step by step increase gross sales to abroad markets.
Along with the X-ble Shoulder, Hyundai Motor and Kia plan to develop an industrial wearable robotic ‘X-ble Waist’ to help the waist when lifting heavy masses, and a medical wearable robotic ‘X-ble MEX’ for the rehabilitation of the strolling impaired.
“The X-ble Shoulder is a wearable robotic that leverages the technical capabilities of the Robotics LAB and implements suggestions from precise customers,” stated Dong Jin Hyun, Vice President and Head of Robotics LAB at Hyundai Motor and Kia. “Going ahead, we goal to increase the supply of wearable robots, creating merchandise that work naturally with customers to reinforce their every day lives. By pushing technological boundaries, we’ll make these helpful merchandise accessible to extra folks.”
Enhancing Employee Security and Consolation with X-ble Shoulder
The X-ble Shoulder can cut back shoulder load by as much as 60 p.c and anterior/lateral deltoid muscle exercise by as much as 30 p.c discount to enhance the standard of lifetime of employees.
The X-ble Shoulder was designed with person security as the highest precedence. It makes use of carbon composite materials and wear-resistant materials utilized in high-end autos. Because of the product’s excessive power and light-weight weight, it may be used stably with out issue even for lengthy hours of labor. Additionally, the elements that immediately contact the person’s physique are designed to guard in opposition to bodily damage that may happen in industrial websites by making use of impact-resistant materials used within the high a part of the automobile’s crash pad.
The modular robotic elements and the removable, washable vest make this product not solely straightforward to handle and adaptable to numerous work environments, but in addition appropriate with commonplace work apparel throughout totally different industries.
The most important characteristic of the X-ble Shoulder is that it generates assistive drive by means of the muscle compensation module as a substitute of the electrical system with a non-powered torque technology construction. There isn’t any have to cost individually, making it handy to keep up and handle, and it may be used evenly and safely and not using a battery.
The X-ble Shoulder’s assistive drive is generated by a patented multi-link construction within the muscle compensation module. Every hyperlink within the multi-link could be adjusted for optimum assistive drive in varied work environments. The module is predicted to carry out round 700,000 folding and unfolding actions yearly in industrial settings.
The X-ble Shoulder is available in two variations: fundamental and adjustable. The essential model is finest for duties the place the posture is just not mounted and continues to vary and provides as much as 2.9 kgf of assistive drive. The adjustable model, ideally suited for duties that repeat the identical motion, permits customers to set the angle for max torque based mostly on their work posture, offering as much as 3.7 kgf of assistive drive.
The X-ble Shoulder weighs roughly 1.9 kg and could be sized to suit the wearer. Its physique size is adjustable between 406 mm and 446 mm. It permits full arm motion from 0 to 180 levels with out hindering work or relaxation actions.
Person suggestions considerably influenced the X-ble Shoulder’s growth. A pilot trial carried out from 2022 to 2024 concerned roughly 300 employees and well being managers from Hyundai Motor and Kia vegetation. Person solutions, together with ease of use, consolation, unrestricted arm motion, adjustable assistive drive, and simple cleansing, had been included into product enhancements and new options.
X-ble Shoulder’s commercialization and enlargement plans are underway
Hyundai Motor and Kia’s Robotics LAB additionally introduced a commercialization plan for X-ble Shoulder. The rise in congenital ailments and accidents is driving the demand for wearable robots within the medical and well being care business, adopted by a rise in demand within the manufacturing and protection business sectors. In accordance with Mordor Intelligence[1], the Wearable Robots and Exoskeletons Market dimension is estimated at USD 2.55 billion in 2024, and is predicted to succeed in USD 10.25 billion by 2029, rising at a CAGR of 32.05 p.c.
There’s but no dominant chief within the wearable robotic market, and Hyundai Motor and Kia’s Robotics LAB is searching for alternatives to seize the market.
Step one is to use it to Hyundai Motor and Kia’s manufacturing and upkeep departments. Then, from the mid-2020s onward, they plan to increase gross sales not solely to the 27 associates of Hyundai Motor Group but in addition to exterior firms. In 2026, they goal to enter abroad markets, resembling Europe and North America, based mostly on home market gross sales expertise, and plan to increase gross sales to different industries, resembling building, shipbuilding, aviation, agriculture and vehicles.
Corporations serious about buying the X-ble Shoulder can inquire through the Robotics LAB’s official web site. The expertise, out there in restricted portions, is solely for company clients. The Robotics LAB provides X-ble Shoulder Built-in Consulting, aiding firms in making data-driven choices about introducing the wearable robotic into their operations.
The session course of consists of Course of Evaluation, which includes analyzing information associated to muscle and joint load throughout work, and Course of Suitability Analysis, which makes use of particular indicators to evaluate the suitability of making use of the X-ble Shoulder. Put up-consultation manufacturing and supply is predicted to start within the first half of 2025.
Proprietary applied sciences developed by Hyundai Motor and Kia’s Robotics LAB are already enhancing comfort and productiveness in the true world. Since June, the Factorial Seongsu constructing in Seoul has been leveraging the Lab’s applied sciences, resembling supply robots, computerized charging robots for EVs, and superior facial recognition programs, to attenuate pointless human actions and create an setting the place folks can concentrate on their work. Shifting ahead, the Lab plans to increase its product lineup and develop a Robotics Complete Resolution, with the goal of fostering a society the place people and robots coexist harmoniously.
[1] https://www.giiresearch.com/report/moi1438479-wearable-robots-exoskeletons-market-share-analysis.html
