Identification of Usage Scenarios for Robotic Exoskeletons in the Context of the Hong Kong Construction Industry

Exoskeletons can be seen as an archetype of a truly sustainable manufacturing technology since they empower human beings rather than aiming at their substitution. Exoskeletons have been characterized by rapid technological advances in the last decade, as well as an increase of activities attempting to develop feasible usage scenarios for many industries. However, usage concepts for this technology in the construction industry are still rare. This contrasts with the fact that exoskeletons are theoretically ideal for labor intensive industries such as construction. Therefore, in the study presented in this paper, we made a first attempt to conceptually bridge the gap between exoskeleton typologies and construction tasks so as to provide guidance for future target oriented scenarios and technology development. We utilized the Hong Kong housing construction industry as a case study. Consequently, we developed a construction specific classification of exoskeletons and analyzed the suitability and applicability of the resulting exoskeleton types for Hong Kong’s housing construction tasks. Our study identified, amongst others, hotspot task areas with high appropriateness for exoskeleton use, task areas with similar needs and usage patterns regarding exoskeletons. Furthermore, our study sheds light on the regimes and rationales behind the identified appropriateness levels. Based on our findings, a set of basic guidelines was developed to support and govern future research and development activities targeting the exoskeleton usage in construction.