Construction Worker Workload Assessment for Human-Human versus Human-Robot Collaboration in Wood Assembly

Abstract

Recent advances in robotics and artificial intelligence have influenced the broader adoption of human-robot collaboration (HRC) in industries such as manufacturing and healthcare, but the same cannot be said about construction due to the dynamic nature of the work environment. To facilitate informed decision-making in HRC adoption, there is a need to evaluate the potential benefits of incorporating robots in construction activities. This study evaluates the impact of HRC on construction workers’ workload. Experiments involving human-robot collaborative wood assembly tasks were conducted, and workload levels of humans in different scenarios were evaluated using physiological data collected with a wearable sensing device. Thereafter, a survey was administered to participants to assess their mental workload. Findings show that HRC posed less workload on workers compared to human-human collaboration, which demonstrates the potential benefits of HRC in the aspect of workload or fatigue reduction among construction workers, and thus could help enhance productivity.