The structural design, control system, and integrated biofeedback for a wearable exoskeletal robot for upper extremity stroke rehabilitation are presented. Assisted with clinical evaluation, designers, engineers, and scientists have built a device for robotic assisted upper extremity repetitive therapy (RUPERT). Intense, repetitive physical rehabilitation has been shown to be beneficial overcoming upper extremity deficits, but the therapy is labor intensive and expensive and difficult to evaluate quantitatively and objectively. The RUPERT is developed to provide a low cost, safe and easy-to-use, robotic-device to assist the patient and therapist to achieve more systematic therapy at home or in the clinic. The RUPERT has four actuated degrees-of-freedom driven by compliant and safe pneumatic muscles (PMs) on the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. They are programmed to actuate the device to extend the arm and move the arm in 3-D space. It is very important to note that gravity is not compensated and the daily tasks are practiced in a natural setting. Because the device is wearable and lightweight to increase portability, it can be worn standing or sitting providing therapy tasks that better mimic activities of daily living. The sensors feed back position and force information for quantitative evaluation of task performance. The device can also provide real-time, objective assessment of functional improvement. We have tested the device on stroke survivors performing two critical activities of daily living (ADL): reaching out and self feeding. The future improvement of the device involves increased degrees-of-freedom and interactive control to adapt to a user's physical conditions.

It is well established that the project cost, quality, safety, and duration are the four critical elements that contribute to project success. Past literature has established theoretical relationships between construction safety and quality on the basis of opinions of industry experts. This is the first empirical inquiry into the relationship between safety and quality, testing the null hypothesis that there is no statistical relationship among quality performance indicators and safety performance indicators. To test this hypothesis, empirical data were collected from 32 building construction projects, ranging in scope from $50,000 to $300 million dollars. Several quality metrics (e.g., cost of rework per $1M project scope and rate of rework per 200,000 worker-hours) were used as predictor variables and first aid and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable injury rates were used as response variables. Linear regressions among the predictor and response variables showed that there are two statistically significant relationships: the OSHA recordable injury rate is positively correlated to rework (r 2 ¼ 0.968; p-value ¼ 0.032) and the first aid rate is positively correlated to number of defects (r 2 ¼ 0.548; p-value ¼ 0.009).To understand why these relationships exist and to identify specific strategies that promote both safety and quality, open-ended interviews were conducted with project managers. These individuals indicated that the most compelling reason for the strong positive correlation between rework and injuries is the fact that rework involves demolition, schedule pressure, and unstable work processes. They also noted that devoting resources to preplanning, allowing the necessary time to complete tasks correctly the first time, encouraging leadership at the workface, and encouraging workers to take pride in their work are all strategies that promote both safety and quality. individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, © ASCE, ISSN 0733-9364/04013003 (10)/$25.00. © ASCE 04013003-1 J. Constr. Eng. Manage. J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 2013.139. Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Curtin Univ of Technology 2009 on 04/21/14. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved. © ASCE 04013003-2 J. Constr. Eng. Manage. J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 2013.139. Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Curtin Univ of Technology 2009 on 04/21/14. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved. © ASCE 04013003-10 J. Constr. Eng. Manage. J. Constr. Eng. Manage.

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