Steve Collins, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Director, Stanford Biomechatronics Laboratory Friday, Dec. 1st at 3:00pm MEK 3550 ABSTRACT: Exoskeletons and active prosthetic limbs could improve mobility for hundreds of millions of people, but two serious challenges must first be overcome: we need ways of identifying what a device should do to benefit an individual user, and we need cheap, efficient hardware that can do it. In this talk, we will describe an approach to the design of wearable robots based on versatile emulator systems and algorithms that automatically customize assistance, which we call human-in-the-loop optimization. We will...
Read MoreAbbott’s Space Junk Cleanup Research on Fox13
Local news outlet Fox 13 featured a story on mechanical engineering professor Jake Abbott's work on building robots to clean up space junk. Abbott has been working on this problem for several years and has developed a technology dubbed "Omnimagnet" for interacting with metallic, non-magnetized objects in space without touching them. In addition to the video below, you can view the Tossed in Space article highlighting this project....
Read MoreFall Robotics Seminar: Drew Sabelhaus
Drew Sabelhaus from BU, who does exciting research on soft robot design and control, will be presenting as part of the Fall Robotics Seminar. Thursday, November 9th at 1pm WEB 1250 Learn more about his research: Advancing the Safety of Soft Robots for Human Interactions Bio: Prof. Andrew Sabelhaus’ research takes a control-oriented approach to the locomotion of soft and flexible robots, spanning problems in modeling, feedback, and mechanical design. His work seeks to make soft robots practical and applicable by balancing feedback control with natural, embodied intelligence, allowing a robot to safely complete tasks in unstructured environments....
Read MoreHGN Publishes Paper in MDPI Sensors
For this study, seven transfemoral amputee subjects walked on an ambulation circuit while wearing A-mode ultrasound transducers, IMU sensors, and their passive prosthesis. Our results show that A- mode ultrasound can classify ambulation mode with comparable, and in some cases, superior accuracy to mechanical sensing.his suggests that A-mode ultrasound provides additional useful information about the user’s gait beyond what is provided by mechanical sensors, and that it may be able to improve ambulation mode classification. The manuscript can be downloaded freely at this link: Sensors | Free Full-Text | Ambulation Mode Classification of Individuals with Transfemoral Amputation through A-Mode Sonomyography and...
Read MoreLearning from Prosthesis Users
During a recent workshop at the IEEE World Haptics 2023 Conference assistant professor Edoardo Battaglia from the department of mechanical engineering flipped the script on the typical academic workshop. Rather than he and his colleague giving a presentation or tutorial, they brought in prosthetic users to teach the scientists about the everyday experiences of an upper limb prosthetics user. Following the event, four of the five prosthesis users joined in as coauthors on a paper, sharing their specific experiences. That paper is now being published in Science Robotics, part of the Science family of journals, which covers the “latest technological advances and...
Read MoreProfessors Zhang and George Receive Grant from ALS Association
Robotics professors Haohan Zhang and Jacob George received a seed grant of $50K from the ALS Association to develop new neck exoskeleton technologies to help ALS patients with dropped head syndrome to regain functional head-neck movements. This grant will partially support two graduate students for one year to conduct preliminary studies and data collection that are necessary for future, larger clinical trials that are aimed to translate the technology to ALS patients. This project will be in collaboration with the multidisciplinary Motor Neuron Disease clinic, directed by Dr. Mark Bromberg, at the University of Utah Hospital....
Read MoreUtah Bionic Leg Named to Time’s List of the Best Inventions of 2023
TIME’s annual list of the Best Inventions features 200 extraordinary innovations with the capacity to change people’s lives. To compile the list, TIME’s editors solicit nominations and accept applications describing groundbreaking work in key fields —such as AI, green energy, and sustainability — evaluating each contender on a number factors, including originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact. This year, TIME has selected the Utah Bionic Leg as one of the best inventions of 2023, naming it in its “Experimental” category. You can read more about it here....
Read MoreGrand Opening of the Assistive Rehabilitation Technology Studio
The brand-new Assistive Rehabilitation Technology (ART) Studio in the Craig H. Neilsen Rehabilitation Hospital opened its doors at the beginning of this month. Lab directors Ashley Dalrymple, Jacob George, Russell Butterfield, and Kota Takahashi are excited to share this innovative and revolutionary space with the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department. View more images at the Neurorobotics Lab...
Read MoreDr. George Presents at Covergence Conference
The lack of true early-stage capital and innovation developmental support is a major challenge in advancing promising university technology from the lab to commercial and investment partners. Research institutions are leading through the implementation of university gap funding (proof of concept, startup, venture) and accelerator programs to bridge this “valley of death”. Over the past 15 years, these programs have evolved into sophisticated investment, evaluation, development, and commercialization support mechanisms to nurture the most promising opportunities in emerging, high-growth technology areas. Smart companies and investors are taking notice and making it a strategic, external innovation and investment priority to...
Read MoreUWR Lab received a seed grant ($50K) from the ALS Association.
UWR Lab received a seed grant ($50K) from the ALS Association. This award will help continue the development and clinical translation of a neck exoskeleton to assist with head-neck movements in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This research is in collaboration with the Motor Neuron Disease clinic (directed by Dr. Mark Bromberg) and the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab directed by Dr. Jake George....
Read More