OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Our group's research interests lie at the intersection of robotics and computational neuroscience and biomechanics. We pioneer the unique idea of “simultaneous bio-inspiration and robo-inspiration”. Specifically, we simultaneously draws inspiration from the human control system to advance robotic systems and use robotic systems to develop a stronger understanding of the human body and improve quality of life.
We have on-going projects in the below areas. Previous projects are available under the publications page.
Tendon-transfer surgeries are commonly performed for a variety of conditions such as stroke, palsies, trauma, and congenital defects. It involves re-routing a tendon from a dysfunctional muscle to a still-functioning musle to restore lost function. However, a fundamental aspect of the current surgical procedure, namely the suture that attaches the tendon(s) to the muscles, results in poor hand function in physical interaction tasks such as grasping, because of the fixed 1:1 coupling the suture produces between the muscles and tendons.
Our group is investigating the use of passive engineering mechanisms, such as hierarchical pulleys, to attach the muscles and tendons. It is expected that this will significantly improve post-surgery grasping capability. Joint work with Prof. Chris Allan, MD.
The goal of this project is to understand and improve upon current algorithms for robotic grasping and manipulation by identifying the strategies that humans use for physical interaction. We use a variety of human-robot interaction paradigms to collect the data, which includes a variety of information such as robot hand posture, contact points between the robot and the object, and the volume of the object enclosed.
This data will be analyzed using a variety of machine learning techniques (joint work with Prof. Weng-Keen Wong) to improve a robot's grasp prediction capability.