NSF Award for Firefighting Exoskeletons
ASTRO Lab Director, Prof. Michael Bazzocchi, led a group of Clarkson Professors who have been awarded an NSF grant worth nearly $150,000 to design a new intelligent and adaptive firefighting exoskeleton suits for the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier, which is one of NSF’s 10 Big Ideas for the future. The project is an interdisciplinary effort between Professors Michael Bazzocchi, Natasha Banerjee, Sean Banerjee, Kevin Fite, and Marcias Martinez from the Mechanical & Aeronautical Engineering and Computer Science Departments.
The Firefighter Exoskeleton for Navigation In Extreme Environments project studies how the integration of exoskeletons into firefighting suits would help mitigate injury, increase safety, and address challenges for career and volunteer firefighters.
Given the critical role of firefighters and that nearly two-thirds of all firefighters are volunteers, it is essential to increase the longevity and retention of firefighters, especially in aging rural communities. To improve safety and inclusivity in firefighting, the team is designing a novel exoskeleton suit that is personalized to a broad range of firefighters by studying how firefighters from various backgrounds perform tasks and how they may be equipped with knowledge of the environment through intelligent sensing.
The team will integrate their expertise in ergonomics, biomechanics, dynamics, control, materials, structures, sensing, user interfaces, artificial intelligence (AI), and sociology to create the design. They are also forging partnerships with local fire departments, groups involved in firefighting safety, companies involved in manufacturing equipment and components that enable low-cost exoskeleton development, and organizations advocating for underrepresented groups such as women in firefighting.
The project involves collaborative work between the Astronautics and Robotics Laboratory (ASTRO Lab) directed by Michael Bazzocchi, the Tera-scale All-sensing Research Studio (TARS), co-directed by Natasha Banerjee and Sean Banerjee, the Laboratory for Intelligent Automation (LIA), directed by Kevin Fite, the Holistic Structural Integrity Process (HolSIP) lab, directed by Marcias Martinez.
As part of NSF’s 10 Big Ideas, this grant further bolsters Clarkson’s reputation as a nationally ranked research institution.
“I am impressed by the important research Clarkson University is conducting, and I am proud the National Science Foundation is recognizing the university’s hard work with this grant,” Stefanik said. “As these taxpayer dollars are returned to our district to continue this research, I look forward to witnessing its impact on the important work of career and volunteer firefighters, who work hard to preserve the safety of our communities.”
The project has a direct impact on improving safety, productivity, longevity, and inclusion for rural firefighters and fire departments, strengthening firefighter retention and recruitment for this essential societal service.