NRT-FW-HTF: Robotic Interfaces and Assistants for the Future of Work

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It is inevitable that robotic interfaces and assistants will play an increasingly important role in the workplace in the coming decades. The future of work depends on how well a division of labor can be established between robots and humans, so that robots will perform tasks that are tedious, strenuous, and/or dangerous, and humans will focus on higher-level, more meaningful value-added activities that are easier, safer, and less strenuous. Anticipating this future environment, research and training are needed today to equip those developing future robot-intermediated human workplaces with an integrative and holistic approach to technological development, considering its social impact and economic consequences. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to Worcester Polytechnic Institute will focus on novel research related to the adoption of robotic interfaces and assistants in the future workplace. In an interdisciplinary research program named Future of Robots in the Workplace - Research & Development (FORW-RD), graduate student trainees will attain diverse skills needed to navigate opportunities and challenges to shape, guide, and lead the transition to a robot-assisted workplace. The project anticipates training one hundred twenty (120) MS and PhD students, including thirty (30) funded trainees, from Mechanical Engineering, Robotics Engineering, Computer Science, Materials Science, and User Experience Design in the Business School.FORW-RD's training activities will cohesively cultivate a breadth of interdisciplinary technical and professional skills, in addition to depth in one area of specialization. A set of first-year FORW-RD Thinking seminars will address ethical, social, economic, legal, and technical issues related to the use of robots in the workplace. Small teams of trainees will develop research plans early in their graduate studies, guided by multidisciplinary faculty mentors. Technical coursework includes four existing and four new courses tailored for the FORW-RD program. Professional development will address both practical skills and conceptual/interpersonal skills, by focusing on key professional skillsets--leadership and management, communication, and visioning. Professional practice will be established by assisting faculty mentors as they advise undergraduate team Interdisciplinary Qualifying Projects (IQPs) within WPI's project-based curriculum. Internships with partnering companies and organizations will be required of all NRT trainees for professional and career development. FORW-RD traineeship activities will be integrated with a cross-disciplinary research plan for developing deep expertise in areas such as safe wearable robotic interfaces, assistive robot platforms, flexible multifunctional material processing, user experience in technology, decision-making, stigma/bias, technology in training for high-skill tasks, and ethics at the intersection of society and technology. Efforts to include ethical, social, and business implications into the work will develop more well-rounded scientists and engineers and will help increase participation of women and underrepresented minorities in robotics and related STEM fields. The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.