Currently, wearers of full body exoskeletons are hindered in their ability to use their upper body as desired due to the rigid back parts used in these devices. In order to maximize their versatility the design and preliminary testing is shown of an exoskeletal spine mechanism, called “exo-spine”, that allows the wearer to move all degrees of freedom of his spine and shoulder girdle. Based on the primary forces to be supported during lifting, identified as gravity forces from loads lifted in front of the wearer, as well as functional degrees of freedom, which is a control strategy used by our central nervous system, this mechanism can be actuated using only one motor to provide the required support. Experiments indicate a substantial, although not problematic amount of friction as well as further requirements for the control of the assisting force. Besides improving exoskeletons its basic structure and design principles may be successfully applied to rehabilitation as well.

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