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Most assistive robotic devices are exoskeletons which assist or augment the motion of the limbs and neglect the role of the spinal column in transferring load from the upper body and arms to the legs. In the SPEXOR project we will fill this gap and design a novel spinal exoskeleton to prevent low-back pain in able bodied workers and to support workers with low-back pain in vocational rehabilitation. I. CONTEXT Low-back pain (LBP) is a growing issue in our modern society. From all the diseases studied in the Global Burden of Disease Study from 2010 (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation), LBP was ranked number one concerning the years lived with disability in Europe [1]. Regarding the overall burden, LBP was ranked third in Central and Eastern Europe and first in Western Europe [1]. Depending on sex and region, the European point prevalence of LBP was up to 15.6%. Prevalence and burden were found to increase with age and are even expected to further increase within the next years due to the current demographic developments [2]. From several studies reviewing the costs related to LBP in European countries, it has been calculated that the lowest cost per capita in Europe can be found in Belgium with e116 and e209 in Sweden [3]. Most of the costs of LBP are related to reduced work capacity, sick-leaves, early retirement and J.

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