Research Project

Workers and Technology Together (WATT)

Abstract

The Autonomy Research Center for STEAHM (ARCS) at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), proposes to conduct convergence research into the potential for autonomy
technologies to improve the efficiency and productivity of the organic waste processing industry and the safety and security of those who work in the industry. The FW-HTF-P: Workers and Technology Together (WATT) project team, consisting of ARCS faculty from legal, business, computer science, art/design, mechanical engineering, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and manufacturing systems engineering disciplines, along with ARCS graduate research Fellows and undergraduate Associates, will team with experts in environmental regulations, advanced concepts, and an organic waste processing facility partner to use a convergence research approach to identify socio-technological innovations that will address the challenges with separation, conversion to energy, legal frameworks, adaptation of best practices, and climate change analyses in the context of organic waste processing. Through its research, the project team will determine if applying autonomy technologies to some key organic waste processing functions will increase the capture of organic waste, reduce hazardous job functions for line workers and enforcement agents, increase the efficiency and profitability of organic waste processing, and up/reskill low-skill, temporary workers to assume full-time, semi-skilled positions working alongside automation assistants.

Motivation/Research Problem

How can we apply autonomy technologies to some organic waste processing functions to increase the capture of organic waste, reduce hazardous job functions for line workers and enforcement agents, increase the efficiency and profitability of organic waste processing, and up/reskill low-skill, temporary workers?

Research Team

Lead Researchers

Nhut Ho – ARCS Director – Mechanical Engineering
Bingbing Li – Manufacturing Systems Engineering & Management
Farshad Ghodoosi – Business Law
Joe Bautista – Associate Director and Professor of Art + Design

Collaborators

Los Angeles Local Enforcement Agency, Waste Management, Anaergia

Student Team

Mitesh Sawant, Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Management
Douglas Cruz, Business and Economics
David Bell, Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Management
Melissa Baghoumian, Business and Economics
Jianhao Zhu, Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Management
Joshua Vazquez, Communication Design
Nitya Kumari, Business Administration
Fahima Arif, Electrical engineering
Keiana Samoy, Business Analytics

Funding

Funding Organization: National Science Foundation
Funding Program: Future Work – Human-Technology Frontier

David Thompson Briefing CSUN UCLA Students (Nov 2021)

Research Questions and Objectives

In the planning phase, WATT will facilitate convergence research employing multidisciplinary perspectives to better understand the “pain points” for individual workers, owner/operators, enforcement agents, and across the organic waste processing infrastructure. From this initial research, the project team will develop frameworks—legal & business, sociological/anthropological/psychological, computer science/engineering/robotics—through which the team will produce a concept of operations for implementing automation technologies into the processing of organic waste and ensuring workers are trained to work alongside, in collaboration with assistive technology.

Research Methods

In the planning phase, WATT will facilitate convergence research employing multidisciplinary perspectives to better understand the “pain points” for individual workers, owner/operators, enforcement agents, and stakeholders across the organic waste processing infrastructure. Based on the pain points, the project team will develop frameworks—legal & business, sociological/anthropological/psychological/design, computer science/engineering/robotics—through which the team will produce a concept of operations (ConOp) for implementing automation technologies into the processing of organic waste and ensuring workers are trained to work alongside, in collaboration with assistive technology.

To leverage the intellectual and methodological symbiosis within our multidisciplinary team, we will organize our multidisciplinary team members into Integrated Product Teams (IPT) based on the Integrated Product Development (IPD) methodology. Under this methodology, the pain points, the frameworks, and ConOps are all treated as products that will be designed and developed using the integrated product teams with members from different disciplines.

Research Deliverables and Products

Identified “pain points” in existing processes/procedures from multiple perspectives: line workers, supervisors/managers, enforcement agents, industry, legal.
Concept Operation

Technological needs/adjustments/designs (e.g., digital twin, artificial intelligence, etc.) of system
Preparation/Training program for on-the-ground workers (both line workers and enforcement agents) to effectively leverage automation technology through upskilling/reskilling with technological skills
Differentiation model/tool to determine, based on local operational context, who will be responsible for what, i.e., worker responsibilities/tasks vs. automated responsibilities/tasks

System architecture: design concept, requirements, etc.
Autonomy technology applications beyond this project context
Research & Development: Plan for next project phase (supported by future funding)

Research Timeline

Start Date: September 2021
End Date: September 2022