Toyota now requires a handful of workers to wear exoskeletons.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Toyota now requires a handful of workers to wear exoskeletons, and it's not alone in experimenting with the technology

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Industrial Exoskeletons Give Workers a Lift

Ford, Boeing, Toyota and others are equipping workers with wearable devices that enhance strength and endurance. “Iron Man”-style powered suits could be next

By Leigh Kamping-Carder
Jan. 17, 2019 8:00 a.m. ET

In the weld shop of Toyota Motor North America’s 1.8-million-square-foot plant in Woodstock, Ontario, amid the clanking of robotic arms and the occasional spray of sparks, two workers inspect the steel frame of a future RAV4.

The men raise their arms overhead as they move ultrasonic wands over metal to test the integrity of dozens of welds. Until a few months ago, this task was performed by seated workers wielding hammers and chisels. But the latest RAV4 uses a lighter, stronger steel

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1. Just don't give then repulsors

[LakeSuperiorView]

2. The modern human body is not designed to have the arms over the head for extended periods.

The need for that ended when we came out of the trees. To help do that now, the exoskeletons give support to the arms that the body can't.

"Requires" gives the connotation that they are forcing unwilling workers to wear them - everything I've read says the workers are very much in support (pun intended) of the exoskeletons.

Although it does make me think of Ralphie's little brother in Christmas Story, "Wah, I can't put my arms down!!"