FW-HTF-P: Collaborative Research: Exoskeleton-Assisted Worker Performance Augmentation in Construction

在美国，每年有数十亿美元用于与工作场所有关的伤害，而建筑业工人则更有可能报告健康状况不佳和剧烈疼痛，因为他们从事高强度的体力工作，而且在恶劣的工作环境中面临很高的受伤风险。推广外骨骼和外装（统称为EXO）的使用有望缓解这种情况。然而，关于EXO技术、工人及其工作的几个基本问题还没有得到很好的回答，包括“可以用来科学地衡量EXO技术在建筑工作场所的性能的指标、标准和评估程序是什么？"，“这些测量如何帮助塑造EXO产品未来的发展？"，“什么是帮助减少潜在磨损风险的最佳实践和策略？"，以及“如何改变工作组织和模式以适应EXO的使用？” 为了回答这些问题，需要协同多学科的专门知识，以促进趋同的研究能力。这项研究将推进工人-EXO-建筑前沿的知识基础，以提高劳动力生产率，降低工伤风险，扩大劳动力参与，并延长建筑劳动力的职业寿命。本项目的目标是研究建筑行业工人穿着EXO对未来的影响。PI计划在三个方面进行以人为本的调查，以实现这一目标。首先，由PI领导的研究小组将对三个建筑行业（石膏板安装工、管道工和工人）的现有EXO产品进行现场评估，并收集他们对长期穿着EXO完成施工任务的反馈。其次，研究团队将与工会、建筑承包商和NIOSH研究科学家合作，为未来的全面研究项目设计一系列工作研究，以了解和确定如何改变常规的贸易工作组织和模式，以最大限度地发挥佩戴EXO的好处，并最大限度地减少其对工人的副作用。第三，项目研究者将组织为期一天半的研讨会，与学术研究人员、产业专家和政府官员分享初步成果和发现，并为制定完整的FW-HTF研究项目制定重要的研究问题和假设。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Billions of dollars per year are spent on workplace-related injuries in the U.S., while construction trade workers are more likely to report poor health and severe pain due to undertaking demanding physical work and facing a high risk of injuries in poor working environments. Promoting the use of exoskeletons and exosuits (collectively called EXOs) is expected to alleviate this situation. However, several fundamental questions regarding the EXO technology, the workers, and their work due to the use of EXOs have not been well answered yet, including “what are the indicators, criteria, and assessment procedures that could be used to measure the performance of the EXO technology scientifically in construction workplaces?”, “how could these measurements help to shape the development of EXO products in the future?”, “what are the best practices and strategies to help to reduce potential wearing risks?”, and “how are the work organizations and modes changed to fit the use of EXOs?” To answer these questions, it requires synergizing multidisciplinary expertise that fosters convergent research capacity. This research will advance the knowledge base of the worker-EXO-construction frontiers for enhancing workforce productivity, reducing the risk of work-related injuries, broadening workforce participation, and extending the career life expectancy of the construction workforce. The objective of this Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier (FW-HTF) planning research project is to investigate the impacts of wearing EXOs for the future of construction trade workers. The PIs plan to conduct human-centered investigations in three thrusts to accomplish this objective. First, the research team led by the PIs will conduct field evaluations of existing EXO products for three construction trades (drywall installer, plumber, and laborer) and collect their feedbacks about wearing EXOs to complete construction tasks for a long period. Second, the research team will work with trade unions, construction contractors, and NIOSH research scientists and design a series of work studies for the future full research project to learn and identify how routine trade work organizations and modes could be changed to maximize the benefits of wearing EXOs and minimize their side effects on the workers. Third, the PIs will organize a one-and-a-half-day workshop to share the initial results and findings with academic researchers, industrial experts, and government officials and formulate important research questions and hypotheses for developing a full FW-HTF research project.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.