Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

The Use of Wearable Assistive Technology to Increase Soldiers’ Effectiveness

The Use of Wearable Assistive Technology to Increase Soldiers’ Effectiveness The Australian Army contains more than 50 diverse employment specialisations and soldiers are exposed to a number of different tasks that may benefit from the introduction of wearable assistive technology. The aim of this paper was to identify the most common physically demanding activities performed by soldiers and to identify target use-cases that may benefit from the implementation of wearable assistive technology. A list of physically demanding tasks performed by Australian soldiers was clustered to identify the most common physically demanding activities. The clusters were created based on scenario and context where the task could be performed, the predominant physical capacity required to complete a task, the number of people involved in a task and details on the body worn clothing and equipment. Lifting and marching tasks were found to be the most common activities performed by soldiers. Wearable assistive technologies such as exoskeletons should target lifting and marching activities and be designed specifically for combat and non-combat applications. Design considerations should also include not only the execution of a specific task but also the different type of dresses worn during the execution of a task (e.g. combat uniform or body armour) and the main location (barracks, field) where the targeted task is commonly performed. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Human Factors and Mechanical Engineering for Defense and Safety Springer Journals

The Use of Wearable Assistive Technology to Increase Soldiers’ Effectiveness

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/the-use-of-wearable-assistive-technology-to-increase-soldiers-GEG6teRQW0

References (46)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © Crown 2020
ISSN
2509-8004
eISSN
2367-2544
DOI
10.1007/s41314-020-00035-0
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The Australian Army contains more than 50 diverse employment specialisations and soldiers are exposed to a number of different tasks that may benefit from the introduction of wearable assistive technology. The aim of this paper was to identify the most common physically demanding activities performed by soldiers and to identify target use-cases that may benefit from the implementation of wearable assistive technology. A list of physically demanding tasks performed by Australian soldiers was clustered to identify the most common physically demanding activities. The clusters were created based on scenario and context where the task could be performed, the predominant physical capacity required to complete a task, the number of people involved in a task and details on the body worn clothing and equipment. Lifting and marching tasks were found to be the most common activities performed by soldiers. Wearable assistive technologies such as exoskeletons should target lifting and marching activities and be designed specifically for combat and non-combat applications. Design considerations should also include not only the execution of a specific task but also the different type of dresses worn during the execution of a task (e.g. combat uniform or body armour) and the main location (barracks, field) where the targeted task is commonly performed.

Journal

Human Factors and Mechanical Engineering for Defense and SafetySpringer Journals

Published: Jun 3, 2020

There are no references for this article.