Usability and Biomechanical Testing of Passive Exoskeletons for Construction Workers: A Field-Based Pilot Study
Usability and Biomechanical Testing of Passive Exoskeletons for Construction Workers: A Field-Based Pilot Study
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DOI：
10.3390/buildings13030822
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发表时间：
2023-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Zhu, Zhenhua
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bennett, Sean T.;Han, Wei;Zhu, Zhenhua
建筑业的劳动密集型性质要求工人经常从事体力要求很高的体力劳动，从而使他们面临肌肉骨骼损伤的风险(每10,000名全职等值工人中约有31.2例)。外骨骼和外骨骼(这里统称为EXOS)旨在通过减少工作中的劳累和肌肉疲劳来保护工人免受这些伤害。然而，EXOS在施工中的可用性仍不明朗。这是因为现有的建筑EXO评估主要是在实验室环境中进行的，测试参与者不是建筑专业人员。在这项研究中，我们进行了一项试点研究，以调查EXOS在真实建筑工作场所的可用性。招募了四名有经验的工人来推/清建筑吊车，有没有后座EXO，HeroWear Apex。雇用了三名工人安装/拆除带有和不带有两个扶手支撑EXO的钢柱之间的木块，即Ekso EVO和Hilti EXO-001。记录并比较他们的动作、姿势、心率和任务完成时间。工作人员还接受了调查，以收集他们对EXO的有用性和易用性的态度。研究结果表明，工人对EXOS的使用反应不同，因此在实践中并不一致赞成采用EXO。这项试点研究的初步结果和发现有助于建立理解基础，以改进EXO产品，以适应建筑工人的需求，并促进未来启用EXO的建筑任务。
The labor-intensive nature of the construction industry requires workers to frequently perform physically demanding manual work, thereby exposing them to the risk of musculoskeletal injury (approximately 31.2 cases per 10,000 full-time equivalent workers). Exoskeletons and exosuits (collectively called EXOs here) are designed to protect workers from these injuries by reducing exertion and muscle fatigue during work. However, the usability of EXOs in construction is still not clear. This is because extant EXO assessments in construction were mainly conducted in laboratory environments with test participants who are not construction professionals. In this research, we conducted a pilot study to investigate the usability of EXOs in a real construction workplace. Four experienced workers were recruited to push/empty construction gondolas with and without a Back-Support EXO, HeroWear Apex. Three workers were recruited to install/remove wooden blocks between steel studs with and without two Arm-Support EXOs, i.e., Ekso EVO and Hilti EXO-001. Their motions, postures, heart rates, and task completion times were recorded and compared. The workers were also surveyed to gather their attitudes toward the EXO's usefulness and ease of use. The study results demonstrated that the workers responded to the use of EXOs differently and consequently were not unanimously in favor of EXO adoption in practice. The preliminary results and findings from this pilot study help in building a foundation of understanding to improve EXO products to fit the needs of construction workers and foster EXO-enabled construction tasks in the future.