Lowe’s pilots exoskeletons

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s is testing out exoskeleton harnesses on employees at a Virginia store. The non-motorized devices help workers lift and move heavy objects. “It feels very natural,” Kyle Nel, the director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, told The Verge. “When the person is walking and bends down to pick something up, the rods collect potential energy. And when they stand back up it puts that energy back into their legs and back. It’s very smooth, and it feels like this heavy thing is much less heavy.” Carbon-rod shafts along the wearer’s back and thighs act as artificial tendons, responding to movement, and storing and displacing energy.