Congratulations to University of Utah mechanical engineering associate professor Kam Leang, who has been elected a Fellow of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Read more… ...
Read MoreProf. John Hollerbach receives the 2020 IEEE RAS George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation
Congratulations to Prof. John Hollerbach! He received the 2020 IEEE RAS George Saridis Leadership Award in Robotics and Automation from the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS). The award will be presented to him at the 2020 IEEE ICRA conference in Paris. For your information, past recipients of this prestigious award are listed at: https://www.ieee-ras.org/awards-recognition/society-awards/69-awards-recognition/society-awards/56-ieee-ras-george-saridis-leadership-award-in-robotics-and-automation ...
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Dr. Daniel Drew will join University of Utah Robotics Center
Daniel Drew will be joining the Robotics Center and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from a postdoctoral research position in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2018. His research focuses on the development of autonomous insect-scale systems, bridging the worlds of robotics, MEMS, and design. His past work includes development of a flying millimeter-scale robot with no mechanical moving parts (the “ionocraft”), investigating new methods for resource-constrained communication and control, and studying how humans interact with swarms of insect-scale robots. Website link: http://www.danieldrew.me...
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Dr. Alan Kuntz joins University of Utah Robotics Center
Alan Kuntz will be joining the Robotics Center and the School of Computing from a postdoctoral research position in mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University. He earned his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in computer science. His research interests include shared autonomy, motion planning, and design optimization for manipulators and tentacle-like, flexible robots with an emphasis on home assistance and surgical applications. His interest in health care applications stems from his previous experience as a paramedic in the 911 system of Albuquerque, NM....
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Prof. Leang receives new U.S. Airforce Phase I STTR project for autonomous aerial-robot chemical sensing
Kam Leang and industry partner Nevada NanoTech System recently received a U.S. Airforce Phase I STTR project for autonomous aerial-robot chemical sensing. The project will leverage the expertise of both teams to create intelligent agents for applications that include emergency response....
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Prof. Mascaro receives $348K NIH grant to simulate tendon reconstructive surgeries
“Simulating Tendon Reconstructive Surgeries using a Virtual Hand Model and Robotic Testbed,” National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH R21). PI: Stephen Mascaro, Co-PI: Kenneth Foreman, 07/02/2019-05/31/2021, $347,798. The goal of this project is to advance tendon reconstructive surgery by providing a new way to predict the surgical outcomes using a virtual model for surgeons to examine the outcomes of surgery like range of motion and strength of grip. We currently have a unique virtual model of the tendon system of the human finger that can simulate the kinematics of the tendons and predict the pose...
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Prof. Lenzi receives new $600K NSF NRI grant for control of robotic leg prostheses
For amputees, walking down the sidewalk verses taking the stairs can be considerable obstacles. Mechanical engineering assistant professor Tommaso Lenzi just received collaborative funding with Drs. Nicholas Fey and Kenneth Hoyt (University of Texas at Dallas), from the National Science Foundation Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (NSF CMMI), National Robotics Initiative (NRI), for their research entitled, “Muscle Ultrasound Sensing for Intuitive Control of Robotic Leg Prostheses,” $600,987 (U), and $578,233 (UT). The goal of this project is to fill the knowledge gap regarding the integration of the user’s volition or intuitive will, in the control of lightweight robotic ankle...
Read MoreAbbott, Kong, Leang and Monson receive $2M NSF EFRI Award
Congratulations to Profs. Abbott, Kong, Leang and Monson on their new $2M NSF EFRI Award, project in collaboration with R. Rajamani of Univ. of Minnesota and O. Pak of Santa Clara Univ. Project tile: “EFRI C3 SoRo: Magneto-electroactive Soft, Continuum, Compliant, Configurable (MESo-C3) Robots for Medical Applications Across Scales” The vision of this collaborative project between the University of Utah, the University of Minnesota, and Santa Clara University is to extend the capabilities of clinicians by enabling minimally invasive access to locations in the human body that are currently difficult or impossible to reach, using a new class of...
Read MoreProf. Jake Abbott’s work on magnetic capsule endoscope featured in PCMag.com
Prof. Jake Abbott’s work on magnetic capsule endoscope featured in an article in PCMag.com: https://www.pcmag.com/news/363730/this-robot-might-make-invasive-colonoscopies-a-thing-of-the ...
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Prof. Lenzi receives $972K DoD CDMRP grant for motorized hip orthoses
Congratulations to Prof. Tommaso Lenzi for receiving new $972K DoD CDMRP grant entitled, “Motorized Hip Orthoses to Improve the Gait Ability of Transfemoral Amputees”. The goal of the project is to validate a new approach to improving amputees’ mobility—providing bilateral hip assistance with a motorized orthosis. Hip orthoses are very lightweight, and their mass is located close to the body center of mass, thus minimizing the metabolic energy cost of carrying this additional weight. In addition, as the orthosis is not suspended through the socket interface, it does not affect balance or socket stability. Because motorized hip orthoses can be...
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