FW-HTF-R: DEMOLISHING BARRIERS TO DEMOCRATIZE FUTURE CONSTRUCTION OPERATIONS BY PROVIDING MULTI SENSORY CAPABILITIES FOR EFFECTIVE REMOTE WORK

Teleoperation (i.e., operating a machine from a distance outside the operator’s line of sight) is an emerging technology in construction that has many potential benefits, such as increasing workplace safety and engaging a more diverse workforce. There is limited understanding of how to implement teleoperation effectively and safely into dynamic construction worksites despite increasing adoption in practice.

Teleoperation will require new skills for construction workers, especially regarding the use of computers and more complex interfaces to control the machines. Moreover, given that construction workers spend almost no time in front of a computer in traditional construction settings, impacts on physical and cognitive well-being must be considered when teleoperation is implemented.

The project aims to fill this knowledge gap by focusing on what sensory information is required for teleoperated demolition work in construction and by developing a validated worker-centric workstation by examining how sensory features should be modified to promote effective, safe, and healthy work environment for different tasks and diverse workers (e.g., female workers, differently abled workers, older workers). A primary intellectual contribution of the project will be a stakeholder-engagement methodology for developing or selecting technology that will improve upon current practice of adopting new technology out of hand until there is a problem or accident.

The project has potential to improve teleoperation in construction and revolutionize the field by increasing workplace safety by reducing fatalities and severe injuries, improving workers’ quality of life by eliminating long commutes or extended stays away from home, engaging a more diverse workforce by inclusion of traditionally marginalized groups in construction and increasing the competitiveness of American construction companies in international markets by allowing operations using an in-house workforce. The project will also enhance the infrastructure for research and education by incorporating findings into the curriculum across multiple disciplines and disseminating findings via publications, presentations, and other media.

It will also involve underrepresented students in research, which will encourage diversity in science by encouraging these students to pursue careers in science.

The project will develop and validate a sensory-enhanced teleoperation workstation for demolition work in construction, while validating a stakeholder-engaged process for addressing emerging needs of increasingly diverse workers, workplaces, and work within the construction industry. The stakeholder-engaged process will be facilitated by ongoing collaboration with an advisory panel and direct involvement of construction workers in development, testing, and feedback.

First, the advisory panel will assist in identifying features required in sensory-enhanced workstation to best support real-world work contexts and tasks (Task 1). The advisory panel and demolition workers will be involved pilot testing combinations and types of sensory features in a development phase (Task 2), and up to 90 construction workers will participate in a randomized trial to test a prototype sensory-enhanced workstation versus a standard workstation (Task 3a).

Participants will operate a demolition robot to interact with structural and non-structural elements with different ground conditions and slopes. Operator skills, demolition skills, safety behaviors, and ergonomic factors will be examined. User experience with the sensory-enhanced workstation and adaptations for “just-right” sensory feedback during different types of demolition tasks will be examined in a user experience study (Task 3b).

A series of stakeholder focus groups will generate insight into the facilitators, challenges, and opportunities for the implementation of sensory-augmented teleoperation in construction work, as well as how adaptions needed to increase diversity in the construction workforce (Task 4). The advisory panel will assist in interpreting the trial, user experience, and focus group findings to develop ideas for widespread implementation of teleoperation and adoption of the stakeholder-engaged process for the construction industry to support technology implementation in construction.

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.