Communications of the ACM
Researcher Takes a Muscular Approach to Robotics
A team of researchers has developed a robotic device to help restore movement to sufferers of neuromuscular disorders affecting the foot and ankle.
Credit: Richard Webner/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute professor Yong-Lae Park was part of an eight-member team at Harvard University that developed a robotic device to restore movement for sufferers of neuromuscular disorders that affect the foot and ankle.
The device, a three-year effort funded by Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically-Inspired Engineering and the U.S. National Science Foundation, uses pneumatics to augment the strength of patients' ankles in a way that allows more flexibility than other conventional devices.
In order to mimic natural ankle movements, the device had to account for the biological complexity of the ankle, which required the researchers to translate the ankle's complex movements into mechanical processes. However, the researchers encountered several challenges in developing the device, such as determining which material to use for the actuator, and finding a way for the device to sense the patient's movement, says Park and Bor-rong Chen, who worked on the device while he studied at Harvard.
They say the system also could be applied above the ankle, and note that its system of detecting and strengthening movement could be applied almost anywhere on the body.
From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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