{"id":54200,"date":"2022-11-02T11:29:51","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T15:29:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/?p=54200"},"modified":"2023-01-23T11:26:51","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T16:26:51","slug":"team-exploring-wearable-robotic-devices-for-em-workforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/feature\/team-exploring-wearable-robotic-devices-for-em-workforce\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Exploring Wearable Robotic Devices for EM Workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Nicholas Spivey, left, a mechanical engineer with Instrumentation, Robotics, and Imaging Systems at Savannah River National Laboratory, and Kurt Gerdes, director of EM\u2019s Office of Technology Development, use virtual reality simulation of an EM worksite during meetings held at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola.<\/p><\/div>\n

PENSACOLA, Fla.<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Donning devices that help relieve stress on workers\u2019 muscles and joints or create a virtual reality simulating a worksite, more than 40 members of a team recently met in person for the first time since fiscal 2020 to evaluate technology to improve the safety and well-being of\u00a0EM<\/a><\/u>\u2019s workforce.<\/p>\n

The team gathered at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Pensacola. IHMC is among the organizations EM has funded to develop and test the wearable devices for members of EM\u2019s workforce who perform a variety of physically challenging tasks.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing we do is more important than protecting the health and safety of our workforce,\u201d said Kurt Gerdes, director of the EM Office of Technology Development. \u201cThis program has the potential to create new approaches to addressing that key challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

More than 40 members of a team evaluating wearable robotic devices for the EM workforce gather for a photo during recent meetings at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola.<\/p><\/div>\n

The meetings included demonstrations of IHMC\u2019s prototype exoskeleton for tank farm workers across the EM complex and a virtual reality simulation of an EM worksite.<\/p>\n

An exoskeleton is a device worn by a person that provides support to muscles and joints or transfers a load to another part of the body or the ground. A wearable robotic device is an exoskeleton that includes sensors, motors and controllers that intelligently apply assistance to the wearer.<\/p>\n

At the meetings at IHMC, team members shared updates on their current research and development, including studies of the physical impact of wearable devices in EM tasks, pilot testing at multiple cleanup sites and development of devices tailored to the unique needs of EM workers, including compatibility with personal protective equipment.<\/p>\n

Initial results of those studies are encouraging. The team is exploring several potential applications of the technology across the EM complex in the short term. To meet the broader needs of the cleanup complex, additional technology evaluation will continue.<\/p>\n

Breakout meetings at IHMC allowed more detailed discussions of key considerations related to the potential application of the devices, including contamination management and methods for measuring success.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jean P. Pab\u00f3n, left, project manager with the EM Office of Technology Development Program, and Leo Lagos, director of research at the Applied Research Center at Florida International University, test virtual reality simulation of an EM worksite.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jason Wheeler, a research and development staff member at Sandia National Laboratories, tries on a prototype exoskeleton for tank farm workers developed by the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition. Wheeler is part of the team exploring wearable robotics and exoskeletons for EM\u2019s workforce.<\/p><\/div>\n

Representatives from all the funded organizations that work on the technology development and evaluation program attended the meetings. They included Sandia National Laboratories, which leads the effort; EM\u2019s\u00a0Savannah River National Laboratory<\/a><\/u>;\u00a0Los Alamos National Laboratory<\/a><\/u>; Georgia Institute of Technology; Florida International University; and IHMC. Gerdes and Project Manager Jean P. Pab\u00f3n with the EM Office of Technology Development, and employees from the\u00a0Hanford Site<\/a><\/u>\u00a0also attended the meetings.<\/p>\n

Launched in fiscal 2020, the technology development and evaluation program works with sites across the EM complex to identify repetitive, physically demanding tasks that may be made easier using wearable devices.<\/p>\n

\u201cBringing the diverse team together provided unique opportunities for collaboration and idea sharing that are much more difficult to achieve in virtual formats,\u201d Pab\u00f3n said.<\/p>\n

The team intends to continue holding in-person meetings twice per year at locations of team members or EM sites as efforts move forward to provide workers with the best possible tools to be safe as they work to complete EM\u2019s cleanup mission.<\/p>\n

-Contributor: Jason Wheeler<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PENSACOLA, Fla.\u00a0\u2013 Donning devices that help relieve stress on workers\u2019 muscles and joints or create a virtual reality simulating a worksite, more than 40 members of a team recently met in person for the first time since fiscal 2020 to evaluate technology to improve the safety and well-being of\u00a0EM\u2019s workforce. The team gathered at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Pensacola. IHMC is among the organizations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,96],"tags":[91],"class_list":["post-54200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-news","category-robotics-technology","tag-robotics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54205,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54200\/revisions\/54205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}