FW-HTF-T/Collaborative Research: Occupational Exoskeletons and the Human-Technology Partnership: Achieving Scale and Integration into the Future of Work

在包括制造业和建筑业在内的多个工业部门，工业外骨骼技术具有提高生产率和工人安全和福祉的巨大潜力；通过允许不同人群进入并保持从事体力要求高的工作，从而实现就业机会的平等。尽管有这种潜力，并且有大量的实验室研究证据，但外骨骼技术在工业上仍远未被主流采用。抑制大规模外骨骼部署的三个关键障碍是：(1)决定和合理化外骨骼何时应该作为工作流程的一部分实施；(2)了解在行业中成功实施所需的社会和组织氛围；(3)为外骨骼领域的新技术解决方案提供更快的从设计到设备的周期。该研究项目旨在利用“大规模”的方法来解决这些差距，通过建模方法的发展来预测外骨骼使用的生物力学后果；设计外骨骼的最佳实践实施方法，同时考虑到社会技术组织因素；通过创建一个物理机器人平台作为外骨骼模拟器来加速外骨骼设计，从而实现“闭环”。考虑到趋同原则，我们提出的工作将有助于克服上述障碍，并将理论和实践结合起来，促进创新技术向新常态的过渡。这个项目汇集了几个学科，包括机器人、人为因素、生物力学、职业健康与安全、组织科学、心理学和统计学。调查小组的结构是为了实现多个目标。首先，拟议的研究将大大推进人类外骨骼相互作用建模的知识，以获得人类关节扭矩和反作用力的现实预测；第二，将在大规模研究复杂的社会技术系统方面进行理论和方法创新；最后，将设计和构建一个可穿戴机器人仿真器，以方便设计修改和评估外骨骼用户对支持配置文件的偏好。我们将通过开发和验证一个融合了两种不同的技术接受模型（分别从个人和组织的角度）的多层次模型框架，在组织科学和心理学方面开拓理论进步，以了解个人和组织如何感知和采用外骨骼。反过来，这项工作也将为重新思考技术设计产生可操作的策略，我们的外骨骼模拟器在设计方面“闭环”。我们的工作包括虚拟建模、物理原型和实验研究，并采用逐步增加广度、规模和复杂性的分层方法。该项目由人类-技术前沿跨部门计划的未来工作资助，旨在通过推进与人类工人和谐运作的智能工作技术的设计，促进对工作环境中相互依赖的人类-技术伙伴关系的更深层次的基本理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

In multiple industrial sectors including manufacturing and construction, industrial exoskeleton technologies have substantial potential to improve productivity, and worker safety and well-being; and to equalize job opportunity by allowing diverse populations to enter and stay employed in physically demanding jobs that are otherwise inaccessible. Despite this potential, and extensive evidence from lab-based studies, exoskeleton technologies are still far from mainstream adoption in industry. Three key barriers inhibiting large-scale exoskeleton deployments are (1) deciding and rationalizing when exoskeletons should be implemented as part of a workflow; (2) understanding the social and organizational climate that is needed for successful implementation in industry; and (3) enabling a faster design-to-device cycle time for new technological solutions in the exoskeleton space. This research project aims to utilize an “at-scale” approach to address these gaps through the development of a modeling approach to predict the biomechanical consequences of exoskeleton use; design of a best-practices implementation approach for exoskeletons while considering socio-technical-organizational factors; and by “closing the loop” by creating a physical robotics platform to serve as an exoskeleton emulator to accelerate exoskeleton design. With the principle of convergence in mind, our proposed work will allow overcoming the noted barriers and will bring theory and practice together by to facilitate the transition of an innovative technology to a new normal. This project brings together several disciplines, including robotics, human factors, biomechanics, occupational health and safety, organizational science, psychology, and statistics. The investigator team is structured to achieve multiple convergent goals. First, the proposed research will substantially advance knowledge in modeling of human-exoskeleton interactions to obtain realistic predictions of human joint torques and reaction forces; second, theoretical and methodological innovations will be made in studying a complex socio-technical system at scale; and finally, a wearable robotics emulator will be designed and built to facilitate design modifications and assessment of exoskeleton users’ preferences of support profiles. We will pioneer theoretical advancements in organizational science and psychology, by developing and validating a multilevel model framework that converges two different technology acceptance models (respectively from the individual and organizational perspectives), to understand how individuals and organizations perceive and adopt exoskeletons. In turn, this work will also generate actionable strategies for re-thinking technology design, with our exoskeleton emulator “closing the loop” on the design side. Our work variously includes virtual modeling, physical prototyping, and experimental investigations with a tiered approach that gradually increases in breadth, scale, and complexity. This project has been funded by the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier cross-directorate program to promote deeper basic understanding of the interdependent human-technology partnership in work contexts by advancing design of intelligent work technologies that operate in harmony with human workers.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.