A Robotic Wearable Exoskeleton for Construction Worker's Safety and Health

摘要

While construction is a major contributor to the U.S. economy, it is reported that construction trades workers retire early due to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) and overexertion involving lifting, bending and twisting more often than other occupational groups. To investigate and prevent WMSDs especially the low back pain in construction work, practitioners and researchers adopted several engineering and management measures. The examples include reducing the material mass, increasing the initial lifting height, working in a team, and arranging rest time during the work. However, the outcome has not been optimistic and promising. In this study, a wearable exoskeleton robot was designed and developed to habituate construction workers to the safe postures recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Subjects were tested to measure and analyze their motions and postures while they were performing basic lifting tasks utilizing a full body integration system of inertia measurement units. From the test, it was identified that the actuators of robot effectively constrained worker's body postures within a safe range when the system detects awkward postures from a worker. This demonstrates that the proposed wearable robot can effectively keep workers in safer postures while they are performing construction tasks. Also, the proposed postural training through physical interventions is expected to effectively sustain corrected postural habits for longer periods.