The robot backpack by Verve Motion lightens the load for employees.

If you spend enough time exploring the Modex floor, you'll come across some wearable robotics. Although the category does not yet have the same level of presence as storage and retrieval systems or autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), exosuits are becoming more and more popular because they can reduce the repetitive fatigue that comes with lifting and moving large objects all day.

Travon Stracke

March 13, 2024

1Min Read

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Despite having written extensively on several of these businesses over the years, I have not had much first-hand experience. I leaped at the chance to try out Verve Motion's SafeLift Exosuit, of course. The form factor most nearly resembles an electronics and battery-housed backpack.

Using a set of chest straps, you snap yourself in after putting it on over your shoulders. After that, a second set of supple straps is wrapped over your thighs and fastened with a Velcro tab. It's a little uncomfortable, but I suppose that most use cases don't need wearing the device over business casual attire in the midst of a packed convention center. The system may fit wearers ranging in height from 5'0" to 6'6". Its total weight is 6.5 pounds.It is fairly cozy.

It's an easy demo of Modex. You start by lifting a large, thirty-pound orange Pelican-style case. Then you repeat the process with increased support. Given that I am currently experiencing degenerative disc illness, it is obvious that the demo this morning merits some sort of journalism honor.

With a slight tug, the two soft fabric wires that are attached to the thigh straps retract inside the backpack. Your arms won't be as taxed by this helpful tug. In a similar vein, the system provides resistance as you bend over, causing you to descend the cargo more slowly.

SafeLift is offered by Verve Motion as a component of a bigger system that includes a wall of cubbyholes and lockers for charging and storing the exosuits. The batteries can also be individually charged and changed out during the day.

During a $20 million funding round, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup's CEO and co-founder, Ignacio Galiana, said TechCrunch that Verve had sold over 1,000 suits by that point.