FW-HTF-P: LEAP: Learning, Accelerating, And Empowering Embodied Robot Technology Use Within The Construction Industry

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The construction industry employs millions of workers in the United States and is a cornerstone sector for the US economy. Unfortunately, productivity growth has stagnated compared to other economic sectors, with the stagnation often attributed to low productivity rates, labor shortages, an aging workforce, and highly dissimilar tasks. Although the attributed features make the sector rife with potential to capitalize on robotic automation, the effective integration of robotics into construction has not yet occurred, an outcome-driven by the highly variable nature of construction tasks, minimal industrialization of construction processes, challenges in the scalability and adaptability of technology, and stakeholders’ systematic resistance to change. The question arises: how do we efficiently make this transition with the fewest barriers to entry? To address this question, this project, coined LEAP, studies the acceptability of robot technology. LEAP is based on the idea that the future of work lies in promoting harmonious growth between technology and workers’ capabilities, addressing misalignment between the implementation of innovations and the current allocation of work, thereby fostering the advancement of automation in labor-intensive sectors. LEAP posits that the best path for success is to incrementally empower workers to leverage the human-technology partnership. The project’s results will facilitate the development of upskilling models with technology for the engineering workforce, a scope that falls under NSF Big Idea of FW-HTF. Lessons learned from designing and administering the technology demonstration may apply in many other industrial manufacturing sectors.The project’s vision is to promote a gradual and smooth transition to a human-technology partnership that sees automation integrated alongside human workers. The project studies the acceptability of robot technology through the embodiment of human-technology interactions, embodiment refers to the coupling of an object and a (human) agent’s body such that control can be exerted to operate on the environment. Using an exploratory (pilot) study, LEAP looks for understanding the underlying cognitive mechanisms of embodiment and their effects on acceptance of robotics by construction workers. LEAP explores the worker’s visual perspective and haptic sense with a focus on inhibitors and stimulators to inform changes in social attitudes toward robots. The research will advance and benefit the FW-HTF by pioneering the exploration of embodiment in workers’ tasks for future robot-worker interactions. LEAP will explore the understanding of robotic capabilities for construction site operations and build new principles for robotic-technology acceptance and compliance in the construction industry. Ultimately, LEAP will increase the understanding of the workers’ individual differences and develop a transformative framework for individual workers’ strategic changes to current operations. Results are expected to contribute to the acceleration and growth of robotic-technology use.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.