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，工业外骨骼技术有很大潜力提高生产率和工人的安全和福祉；并通过允许不同人口进入并继续从事体力要求很高的工作，从而使就业机会均等。尽管有这样的潜力，而且来自实验室研究的广泛证据，外骨骼技术在工业中的主流采用仍然很远。阻碍外骨骼大规模部署的三个关键障碍是：(1)决定和合理地确定外骨骼何时应作为工作流程的一部分来实施；(2)了解在工业中成功实施所需的社会和组织环境；以及(3)使外骨骼领域的新技术解决方案能够更快地从设计到设备的周期。这一研究项目旨在利用“规模”办法来解决这些差距，办法是：开发预测外骨骼使用的生物力学后果的建模方法；设计外骨骼的最佳做法实施办法，同时考虑社会-技术-组织因素；以及通过创建一个物理机器人平台作为外骨骼仿真器来“闭合”外骨骼，以加速外骨骼设计。本着趋同的原则，我们拟议的工作将允许克服上述障碍，并将理论和实践结合在一起，以促进创新技术向新常态的过渡。该项目汇集了多个学科，包括机器人学、人类因素、生物力学、职业健康与安全、组织科学、心理学和统计学。研究人员团队的结构是为了实现多个趋同目标。首先，拟议的研究将极大地提高人类-外骨骼相互作用的建模知识，以获得对人类关节扭矩和反作用力的现实预测；其次，将在大规模研究复杂的社会技术系统方面取得理论和方法上的创新；最后，将设计和建造可穿戴机器人仿真器，以便于外骨骼用户对支撑轮廓的偏好的设计修改和评估。我们将引领组织科学和心理学的理论进步，通过开发和验证一个多层次模型框架，该框架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)，以了解个人和组织如何感知和采用外骨骼。反过来，这项工作也将产生重新思考技术设计的可行策略，我们的外骨骼仿真器在设计方面“关闭了循环”。我们的工作多种多样，包括虚拟建模、物理原型和实验调查，采用的是一种在广度、规模和复杂性上逐渐增加的分层方法。该项目由人类-技术前沿交叉部门工作未来计划资助，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了解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.