Thomas Messerschmidt (57) from Berlin spent his life slaving away on construction sites in the capital - until at some point nothing worked anymore. "Torn tendon when I caught a refrigerator," says the trained carpenter. "Irreparable."
At just 40, Messerschmidt noticed the first signs of wear and tear. The fact that the sole proprietor is still hauling, drilling, screwing and hammering now, at almost 60 and with a bad shoulder, is thanks to his "exoskeleton.
The artificial musculoskeleton is available in sizes from XS to XXL, weighs 2.5 kilos and picks up where the body's own bones fail. German carmakers have been strapping it on their employees on the assembly line for a long time as a preventive measure, and now it's taking over construction sites as well. Price: around 1800 euros!
Max Merker, engineer at exo developer Ottobock: "Exoskeletons are a natural extension of the body. The system's energy stores are charged by the weight of the arms and release it again when working with raised arms. The forces that occur are transferred to the hips via the arm shells with the help of a mechanical pulley system."
When you put it on, your arms fly over your head as light as a feather, just like a superhero. An employee of the tool manufacturer "Hilti" brought Messerschmidt the exoskeleton to the construction site so that he could try it out. He has been working with it every day since then.
Source: Craft: High-tech for superheroes | Regional | BILD.de
English 
German 
Spanish 
French 
Portuguese 
Danish 
Italian 
Polish 
Russian