{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]],"date-time":"2026-07-10T23:53:11Z","timestamp":1783727591752,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775692800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Science and Technology Project of State Grid Hubei Electric Power Co., Ltd.","award":["521520240009"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["521520240009"]}]},{"name":"Key Research and Development Program of Hubei Province","award":["2024BCB007"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024BCB007"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Aiming to reduce muscle fatigue and prevent occupational injuries caused by prolonged lifting in insulator replacement operations, this study presents the design of an upper-limb exoskeleton. Firstly, this study performs kinematic analysis and phase segmentation of the lifting motion in the insulator replacement operation. Based on the analysis, in terms of mechanical structure, the proposed upper-limb exoskeleton adopts a unilateral three-degree-of-freedom shoulder mechanism that biomimics the human glenohumeral joint, which reduces the misalignment between the exoskeleton and the human body. Meanwhile, a waist\u2013back support structure is integrated into the exoskeleton to realize a more reasonable torque transmission path. In terms of the control strategy, based on the operation\u2019s phase segmentation and dynamic modeling of the human upper limb, this study develops a neural network-based assistive control algorithm for insulator replacement operations, enabling the exoskeleton to provide phase-specific torque output. Experimental results demonstrate that, under a simulated insulator replacement operation with a 20 kg load, the exoskeleton significantly reduces the subject\u2019s sEMG activity of the biceps brachii and triceps brachii, effectively alleviating muscle fatigue.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s26082313","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T09:46:23Z","timestamp":1775727983000},"page":"2313","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Shoulder Assistive Exoskeleton for Insulator Replacement"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Haoyuan","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Grid Hubei Electric Power Co., Ltd., Extra High Voltage Company, Wuhan 430050, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-6016-2733","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jia","family":"Yao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ming","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Grid Hubei Electric Power Co., Ltd., Extra High Voltage Company, Wuhan 430050, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongwei","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Grid Hubei Electric Power Co., Ltd., Extra High Voltage Company, Wuhan 430050, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhan","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Grid Hubei Electric Power Co., Ltd., Extra High Voltage Company, Wuhan 430050, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Siyu","family":"Tu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Grid Hubei Electric Power Co., Ltd., Extra High Voltage Company, Wuhan 430050, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yalun","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zimeng","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4224-8595","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhao","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Robotics, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"012079","DOI":"10.1088\/1742-6596\/2503\/1\/012079","article-title":"Structure Design and Performance Analysis of Insulator Replacement Device Based on Live Working in a Distribution Network","volume":"2503","author":"Bian","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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