Development of an upper limb passive exosuit for the 2023 ASTM Exo Games

This paper presents the design of the passive upper limb exosuit that won the design competition in the 2023 ASTM Exo Games. The tasks were first analyzed to provide information about the requirements of the design. Then a design was proposed based on the HeroWear Apex exosuit but with improvements from the competition team members. The four tasks of the competition are discussed in detail, including good and poor execution practice. Experiments are performed to measure the forces generated in the elastic elements that support the back and the ones that support the arms. Flex tests are also discussed to show that the exosuit does not hinder the movement of the user in a meaningful way when it is switched off. The performance during the tasks is discussed and based on this and designs of competitors, improvements to the overall design are proposed for future versions.