| Title: The Effectiveness of Back-Support Exoskeletons in Reducing Muscle Fatigue | |||
| Award number: Deep South Occupational Safety and Health Education and Research Center | Start date: 07/01/2024 | End date: 06/30/2025 | |
| Aim: To (i) determine how endurance time is affected by the use of back-support exoskeletons, and (ii) compare the rate of development of muscle fatigue and adaptations in trunk kinematics during prolonged repetitive lifting/lowering performed until exhaustion, when using back-support exoskeletons (as compared to control no-exoskeleton conditions). | |||
| Details: A repeated-measures mixed-methods study was followed, where participants completed repetitive lifting/lowering tasks in the sagittal plane, between waist and ground level, until exhaustion, in a control condition (no-exoskeleton), when using a rigid, powered BSE, and when using a soft, passive textile-based BSE. The trend of fatigue development was quantified by tracking changes in primary (trunk) and secondary (hip/knee) muscle activity, joint kinematics, and users’ overall subjective experience. | |||
| Principal investigator | Zeinab Kazemi Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Project upload | |||
| Title: LEAP-HI: Safety and Learning from Errors and Near Misses in the Human-Automation Interaction of Socio-Technical Infrastructure Systems | |||
| Award number: 2051685 | Start date: 08/01/2021 | End date: 07/31/2026 | |
| Aim: To understand the operational, organizational and human conditions that influence decision-making and safety in automated sociotechnical infrastructure systems, and propose a system-level theoretical approach that provides a computable safe area of operation for these systems | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Konstantinos P Triantis | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | Divya Srinivasan (Co-Principal Investigator) | ||
| Project upload | August 15, 2025 – Ananya | ||
| Title: ART: STRIDE – Stimulating Translation of Research via Intentional Development and Ecosystem | |||
| Award number: 2331364 | Start date: 02/01/2024 | End date: 01/31/2028 | |
| Aim: Our project addresses widespread low back pain among workers performing manual material handling, a major source of workplace injury and economic burden. We propose a smart, body-worn sensor suit that continuously monitors trunk posture and spinal loading, providing real-time, actionable feedback to promote dynamic posture variation and delay muscle fatigue. The system can function independently or in combination with exoskeletons, improving usability and adoption. Over the STRP period, we will develop and pilot affordable prototypes, refine analytics and visualization, engage in customer discovery, and explore commercialization pathways. The ultimate goal is to enhance worker safety, well-being, and productivity while reducing costs associated with low back disorders. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Kuang-Ching Wang | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | Shelia Cotton; Divya Srinivasan; Tia Dumas; Chris Gesswein | ||
| Project upload | August 25, 2025 – Ananya | ||
| Title: Evaluation and Comparison of Back-Support Exoskeletons for Simulated Industrial Tasks | |||
| Award number: Funded by Boeing & SCRA | Start date: 06/26/2023 | End date: 05/31/2025 | |
| Aim: As more studies point towards acceptance, and user behavior as driving factors into acceptance of emerging technologies such as exoskeletons, we evaluated back-support exoskeletons comprehensively by considering multiple designs (e.g., soft vs. rigid) and mechanisms (e.g., gas springs, elastic bands, motors) across multiple tasks such as lifting, pushing, awkward postures. Preliminary results showed that different design features and mechanisms have differential benefits and ill effects on tasks with limited gender differences. Subjectively, participants’ task-wise exoskeletons preferences and usability did not align with our objective findings. Additionally, they reported high contact pressure with rigid exoskeletons. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | |||
| Project upload | August 25, 2025 – Ananya | ||
| Title: A Human-Systems Approach for Implementing a Safe and Effective ‘Early Mobility Program’ for Inpatient Care | |||
| Award number: Prisma Seed Grant | Start date: 4/24 | End date: 12/25 | |
| Aim: This study aims to explore the barriers and opportunities to effectively implement the JH-AMP approach system-wide, and to support Prisma in formulating a protocol to improve the education of nurses and nurse-technicians about mobility. | |||
| Details: Population: The main population of this study will consist of nurses and nurse-technicians who work full-time in the med-surg units of Prisma Hospital, while a small sample of charge nurses and physicians from the same units will also be included. Design: It is an observational and cross-sectional study. | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-Investigator (s) | Clemson University: Dechristian Franca Barbieri, PhD.; Jessica Aviles, Ph.D.; Jackie Cha, Ph.D.; Zeinab Kazemi, Ph.D. Prisma Health: Kristen Dickens, Anna Fleming, Tina Ralyea | ||
| Project upload | |||
| Title: Ethical Considerations in The Design and Testing of Back-Support Exoskeletons | |||
| Award number: NA 1R21EB036439-01 | Start date: 09/24 | End date: 09/26 | |
| Aim: This study aims to evaluate user perceptions, technology acceptance, and health effects of exoskeletons across races. Specifically, it seeks to (1) characterize racerelated differences in user experiences and expectations, including design preferences, device usability, perceived usefulness, and physical, psychological, and socio-cultural factors affecting exoskeleton use, and (2) quantify racial differences in the biomechanical effects of BSEs during physically demanding tasks. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-PI (s) | |||
| Project upload | |||
| Title: Occupational Exoskeletons and the Human-Technology Partnership: Achieving Scale and Integration into the Future of Work | |||
| Award number: NSF 2128926 | Start date: 10/1/21 | End date: 09/30/26 | |
| Aim: This research project aims to utilize an “at-scale” approach to address these gaps (inhibiting large-scale exoskeleton deployments) through the development of a modeling approach to predict the biomechanical consequences of exoskeleton use; design of a best-practices implementation approach for exoskeletons while considering socio-technical-organizational factors; and by “closing the loop” by creating a physical robotics platform to serve as an exoskeleton emulator to accelerate exoskeleton design. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | |||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: EAGER: Principles of Motor Skills (re)Learning When Using Powered Exoskeletons | |||
| Award number: NAF 2037644 | Start date: 07/1/21 | End date: 06/30/23 | |
| Aim: This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) project will promote the progress of science and advance the national health, prosperity and welfare by identifying basic principles of human motor skill learning when using multi-joint arm exoskeletons to perform complex tasks. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | |||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: A Robotic Platform for Body-Scale Human Physical Interaction in Embodied Virtual Reality | |||
| Award number: NSF 2024772 | Start date: 10/1/2020 | End date: 09/30/2024 | |
| Aim: This project will design, build, control, and assess the effectiveness of a body-scale physical interaction simulation cobot in Virtual Reality that provides customizable force and position feedback at the hands and feet. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Alexander Leonessa | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: Learning Environments with Augmentation and Robotics for Next-gen Emergency Responders (LEARNER) | |||
| Award number: NSF 2033592 | Start date: 09/1/2020 | End date: 08/31/2022 | |
| Aim: | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | |||
| Co-investigator (s) | |||
| Project upload | |||
| Title: FW-HTF-T/Collaborative Research: Occupational Exoskeletons and the Human-Technology Partnership: Achieving Scale and Integration into the Future of Work | |||
| Award number: NSF 2202862 | Start date: 01/1/2022 | End date: 12/31/2026 | |
| Aim: To advance the adoption of industrial exoskeletons by developing predictive models of human-exoskeleton interactions, designing best-practice implementation strategies that account for socio-technical-organizational factors, and creating a wearable robotics emulator to accelerate exoskeleton design. By integrating robotics, biomechanics, human factors, and organizational science, the work seeks to overcome key barriers to industrial deployment and facilitate the transition of exoskeleton technology from lab-based research to widespread real-world use. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | |||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: Whole-Body Exoskeletons for Advanced Vocational Enhancement (WEAVE) | |||
| Award number: NSF 1839946 | Start date: 09/15/2018 | End date: 08/31/2023 | |
| Aim: The goal of this project is to develop effective human-machine interfaces and adaptive control of exoskeleton assistance for application of powered whole-body exoskeletons in manufacturing environments. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | |||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: Enhancing Small and Mid-level Farm Viability Through a Systems-based Research Network: Linking Technology and Sustainable Development and Practice | |||
| Award number: NSF 1745477 | Start date: 09/01/2017 | End date: 08/31/2021 | |
| Aim: This is an NSF-funded Research Collaboration Network focused on understanding what the optimal role of a human operator should be, within the increasingly automated technological landscape of a traditionally physically laborious job such as farming (in the context of shared control and cooperation between human and multiple semiautonomous robots, to enhance health, safety and productivity among farm workers). | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | |||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: Exploring acute lumbar biomechanical and physiological effects of a sit-stand paradigm | |||
| Award number: JHU-NIOSH ERC | Start date: 01/01/2017 | End date: 06/30/2018 | |
| Aim: The goal of this project is to develop the required instrumentation to perform multi-modality measurements of muscle activity and hemodynamics measurements in the lumbar musculature during a sit-stand paradigm. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | |||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: Bio-behavioral monitoring to predict Self-Injurious Behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorder | |||
| Award by: Institute for Society, Culture and Environment | Start date: 04/01/2017 | End date: 03/31/2018 | |
| Aim: The goal of this project is to develop a real-time system to predict self-injurious behavior (SIB) in autistic children, using wearable sensors and innovative data analytics methods of movement behaviors. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | |||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: Evaluating the effects of multi-axial whole body vibration exposures on postural stability in mining heavy vehicle equipment operators | |||
| Award number: Alpha Foundation AFC618-68 | Start date: 07/01/2017 | End date: 12/31/2018 | |
| Aim: The goal of this project is to quantify to which extent postural stability is affected by exposure to mining vehicle vibrations and testing the efficacy of specific interventions to reduce vibration exposures in mining trucks. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Co-investigator (s) | Sunwook Kim | ||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: Effects of Exoskeleton Use on Worker Performance, Health, and Safety in Manual Material Handling Tasks: Lab- and Field-Based Assessments | |||
| Award by: College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education | Start date: 03/01/2018 | End date: 09/30/2019 | |
| Aim: The goal of this project is to understand the effects of back-support exoskeleton use on productivity and physical exposures when workers perform repetitive lifting tasks. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | |||
| Co-investigator (s) | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||
| Title: Assessing the Potential of Exoskeletons for Ohio Industries | |||
| Award number: | Start date: 04/01/2018 | End date: 12/31/2019 | |
| Aim: This work seeks to understand better both the advantages and limitations of different exoskeleton technologies for diverse work tasks and for different age groups (i.e., young vs. older), and to begin to identify specific work tasks that may benefit from a specific exoskeleton technology. | |||
| Details: | |||
| Principal investigator | |||
| Co-investigator (s) | Divya Srinivasan | ||
| Project upload | 08/15/26 – Ananya | ||