The story of a simple, useful, human exoskeleton

ARTICLE

The story
of an exoskeleton
simple, useful, human

ARTICLE

The story
of an exoskeleton
simple, useful, human

We try to be pragmatic, innovative and useful. innovative and useful for people's lives.

Samuel Corgne
Founder of Hapo

We try to be pragmatic, innovative and useful. innovative and useful for people's lives.

Samuel Corgne
Founder of Hapo

Rethinking the exoskeleton to make it light, unobtrusive, intuitive and, above all, useful for workers in physically demanding occupations. This is the ambition that prompted Samuel Corgne to found HAPO in November 2018 near Anduze, in France...

The origins of Hapo :
when Samuel Corgne decided to rethink the exoskeleton

Despite undeniable progress since the 2000s the employment

rate for people with remains very low in France

(barely 39% in 2023, according to INSEE). 

Faced with this reality, Samuel Corgne, an entrepreneur who has been involved in social innovation for over 18 years, decided to take action. At the head of a team of more than 300 employees across 9 branches in France, the founder of ErgoSanté has set himself the mission of improving the independence and quality of life of people with disabilities through workstation fitting solutions.

In November 2018, in Anduze, Gard, he launched Hapo. His thoughts on the professional integration of people with disabilities naturally led him to exoskeletons, physical assistance devices designed to facilitate constraining tasks, particularly in industry, construction, logistics, health or even maintenance services, where operators regularly have to :

• Carrying heavy loads ;

• Working with arms at height;

• Adopting awkward postures over a long period of time.

But what he discovered did not satisfy him. At the time, exoskeletons were widely associated with the concept of ‘augmented man’, with physical capacities increased tenfold. ‘We were told that the exoskeleton was to make people work harder’, says Samuel. With Hapo, he will be working on a daily basis to challenge these preconceived ideas.

Hapo,
or the exoskeleton
"second skin"

Non-motorised devices,
ultra-light devices that integrate naturally
professional gestures.

State-of-the-art exoskeletons already exist. They are motorised, equipped with sensors, batteries and gadgets of all kinds. But they cannot be used by workers because they are too heavy, too expensive and too complex.

For Samuel, the exoskeleton should be as natural as workwear, something you put on in the morning without even thinking about it, and which protects you when you need it, without imposing itself on you throughout the working day.

This vision is reflected in the design of the Hapo exoskeletons: non-motorised, ultra-light devices that integrate naturally into work movements to reduce fatigue and prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).

The Hapo CS, for example, weighs just 900g, can be put on in 45 seconds and taken off in just 20 seconds.

For example, a maintenance technician can quickly remove his exoskeleton for precision tasks on the ground, then put it back on in a matter of seconds when he has to work with his arms raised on an electrical installation.

Like a second skin

A high-performance exoskeleton is first and foremost a tool that protects the body from RSI and prevents muscle fatigue. But it's also a device so light that the user can forget it's there, while realising its benefits at the end of the day, over weeks, months and years: less tension, less fatigue, more comfort at work.

The Hapo DNA in three words: pragmatic, innovative, useful

At our workshops in Anduze, in the heart of the Gard region of France, engineers, scientists, ergonomic experts and technicians work hand in hand to develop the Hapo exoskeletons. Three principles guide their work: pragmatism, innovation for simplicity, and usefulness for workers. Here's how these values are reflected in our day-to-day work.

1 THE POWER OF PRAGMATISM

Hapo's approach is above all scientific. Each exoskeleton undergoes a battery of tests to measure its ability to genuinely reduce muscular tension.

A number of studies, all documented on our website, quantify the benefits of different models. Here are a few examples:

• The Hapo UP reduces stress on the shoulder by 40% for tasks requiring the arms to be held above the head, and by 28% for handling light loads at height;

• The Hapo FRONT reduces biceps muscle activity by 33% and deltoid muscle activity by 16% during dynamic tasks performed with the arm at half-height.;

• The Hapo BACK has been shown to reduce the strain on the back muscles (longissimus and latissimus dorsi) by 20% for tasks involving standing or full flexion.

«Pragmatism is also reflected in our relationships with our customers. My advice to companies looking to improve the working conditions of their teams », explains Samuel Corgne, « is not to turn directly to exoskeletons, but to ask what is being done and what can be done differently to reduce drudgery. And if this has already been done, then exoskeletons could be one of the solutions.»

2INNOVATION, THE ART OF SIMPLICITY

For Hapo, innovation does not lie in technological complexity, but in simplicity of use.

Let's take the example of the spring rods, the heart of the Hapo exoskeletons. These composite elements function like elastic bands: they store energy when bending and release it when straightening. An entirely mechanical solution that requires no batteries or complex maintenance.

Innovation also means that each worker can put on an exoskeleton that is perfectly adapted to his or her morphology. Available in a range of sizes, Hapo exoskeletons feature an innovative adjustment system that allows assistance to be adjusted independently on each side of the body, thanks to pre-tensioning straps. The result: exoskeletons that cover 98% of body shapes.

Hapo's innovation also extends to digital technology with Hapo LEA, a free postural assessment application that uses Computer Vision to analyse body movements and identify MSD risks. Now used by more than 21,000 people, it enables every company to quickly identify at-risk postures using a simple video taken from a smartphone.

The Hapo CS, a resolutely feminine exoskeleton.
The Hapo CS is the first exoskeleton designed for women, which may have different characteristics to men: more pronounced lumbar curvature, wider pelvis, distribution different back muscle mass, lower centre of gravity, more pronounced bust, etc. 

3 UTILITY AS OUR PRIMARY MISSION

Hapo develops each exoskeleton to meet a clearly identified need: relieving back strain when bending, reducing fatigue when lifting arms, reducing the stress of repetitive movements at mid-height, protecting the neck and nape, etc. A complete range in which each device has its raison d'être.

Being useful also means knowing how to say no:

• No to superfluous functions and gadgets that make life more complicated. the exoskeleton;

• No to generic, standardised solutions that won't work taking into account the specific features of each profession and each body type;

• No to the vision of augmented man who loses sight of the essential: maintaining health and well-being at work