Rapid User-centered Design and Optimization of Lab Facilities (RUDOLF)

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

This project is committed to offering laboratory environments that integrate universal accessibility principles. RUDOLF offers a guide for adapting lab spaces to be accessible so that students may be as independent and productive as possible. The RUDOLF designs are especially helpful in offering spaces that incorporate the needs of students with mobility challenges. Persons with disabilities make up less than 3% of the total STEM workforce. One of the major barriers faced by persons with disabilities is ease of navigation of laboratory spaces where skills training and professional development takes place. Technologies that remove these structural barriers are vital to increasing participation in STEM training experiences. Thus, to ensure that all students who experience accessibility challenges can fully participate in laboratory activities, it is essential to remove structural barriers that hinder engagement in hands on learning. Practical lab experiences are critical for developing technical skills and knowledge required for STEM Careers. The RUDOLF project offers solutions that address accessibility in the laboratory, offering a solution which will directly increase the number of students who are able to participate in STEM training, ultimately positively affecting the development of our nations STEM workforce. The RUDOLF project proposes innovative technical and learning research activities to develop a generative AI toolkit that rapidly and automatically produces accessible lab designs from building information modeling plans. The artificial intelligence (AI) toolkit will identify architectural barriers based on accessibility guidelines and generate candidate lab designs that accommodate mobility impairments. These designs will be transformed into 3-D virtual reality immersive environments for evaluation by participants from the Gregory S. Fehribach Center STEM internship program. Using human-centered design approaches, interns will interact with the VR environments and provide feedback for further refinement. Optimization models will be developed to account for workflow considerations, including team-based tasks and equipment placement. Real-time interaction with virtual reality environments will allow participants to rank and prioritize design features. Project goals after the review process will focus on the development of this AI-based accessibility toolkit. The generative AI learning and flexibility of the RUDOLF system allows it to assess a variety of STEM lab environments from postsecondary education to the workplace. Future research can be broadened to accommodate different accessibility challenges in various STEM fields, including labs from biomedical labs to machining workshops. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.