Examining the Impacts of Wearable Robots in Mitigating Musculoskeletal Disorders Amongst Masons

Omobolanle Ogunseiju¹, Mariam Tomori¹, Joshua Ofori¹, Likith Rudraraju¹, Ece Erdogmus Skourup¹

1. Georgia Institute of Technology

Published in Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024), edited by Ali GhaffarianHoseini, Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, Farzad Rahimian and Mahesh Babu Purushothaman. Springer Nature, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, volume 591, 2025, pages 783 to 792. DOI 10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_76.

Abstract

Among the existing construction trades, masonry is one the most labor-intensive, as the workers are often subjected to repetitive, fast-paced, and strenuous tasks. Masonry construction often requires prolonged assumptions of different body postures, such as lifting, bending, kneeling, and reaching. While wearable robots (such as exoskeletons) offer promising ergonomic solutions to address the physical demands of diverse tasks, understanding the impacts of exoskeleton types on masons remains limited. This study aims to evaluate the impacts of passive and active exoskeletons as interventions to alleviate work-related musculoskeletal disorders among masons. Two specific objectives are set: (1) assessing the perceived discomfort across different body parts while wearing both exoskeletons and (2) assessing the impact of active and passive exoskeletons on masons’ productivity to elucidate the potential acceptance of exoskeletons amongst masonry workers. The study involves three rounds of masonry tasks performed by participants, with and without exoskeleton support, to understand the impacts of exoskeletons on productivity and perceived discomforts. The findings reveal that working without exoskeletons results in the longest task completion time but generally lower discomfort levels. The findings further reveal active exoskeletons have a significant impact on improving productivity during masonry tasks as compared to passive exoskeletons which provide moderate relief for the lower back but introduce discomfort in other regions like the upper arm, thigh, and lower leg/foot. This study contributes to the potential of using exoskeletons for improving masons’ health and safety and sustaining the aging community of masonry workers. This study also sets precedence for human-robot integration in masonry construction.

Keywords

Session

Presented in Recorded Presentations, Session III, Saturday 9 November 2024, 11:00 to 13:30, room WG 201, Auckland University of Technology. Session chair Dr Antonio Lara Hernandez.

How to Cite

Ogunseiju, O., Tomori, M., Ofori, J., Rudraraju, L., & Skourup, E. E. (2025). Examining the Impacts of Wearable Robots in Mitigating Musculoskeletal Disorders Amongst Masons. In A. GhaffarianHoseini, A. GhaffarianHoseini, F. Rahimian, & M. B. Purushothaman (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024) (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Vol. 591, pp. 783–792). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_76

About the Conference

Presented at SASBE 2024, the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, held in Auckland from 7 to 9 November 2024 and chaired by Professors Ali and Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, founders of GDI Academy. The version of record is published by Springer Nature; this page is the conference archive record kept by GDI Academy.