Workers’ Perception and Acceptance of Collaborative Robots in Construction Using the Technology Acceptance Model
Publication: Computing in Civil Engineering 2023
ABSTRACT
The adoption of collaborative robots in construction is one major step toward achieving intelligent and automated construction to improve productivity and safety. Many construction tasks require physical human-robot collaboration (HRC), where workers and robots collaborate side-by-side in a common workspace. Such close-distance interactions may cause worker resistance, hindering successful HRC implementation. This study aims to understand workers’ acceptance of HRC via experimental studies. Experiments on human-robot collaborative wood assembly were performed, where participants were tasked to connect wood pieces, and a robot was programmed to place pieces according to design. Two designs with different complexity levels were given. Surveys adapted from technology acceptance model were collected before and after the experiments to investigate individual perceptions and acceptance of robots. The results show that gender and complexity of tasks have a great impact on the acceptance of robots. Finally, the implications for the future development of HRC in construction were discussed.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Computing in Civil Engineering 2023
Pages: 771 - 778
History
Published online: Jan 25, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Automation and robotics
- Building materials
- Business management
- Construction engineering
- Construction management
- Construction sites
- Design (by type)
- Employment
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Human and behavioral factors
- Labor
- Load and resistance factor design
- Load factors
- Materials engineering
- Occupational safety
- Personnel management
- Practice and Profession
- Productivity
- Public administration
- Public health and safety
- Safety
- Structural design
- Systems engineering
- Wood and wood products
- Work zones
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