Bio-inspired robotic finger looks, feels and works like the real thing

Most robotic parts used to today are rigid, have a limited range of motion and don’t really look lifelike. Inspired by both nature and biology, a scientist from Florida Atlantic University has designed a novel robotic finger that looks and feels like the real thing. In an article recently published in the journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, Erik Engeberg, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering within the College of Engineering and Computer Science at FAU, describes how he has developed and tested this robotic finger using shape memory alloy (SMA), a 3D CAD model of a human finger, a 3D printer, and a unique thermal training technique.”

“We have been able to thermomechanically train our robotic finger to mimic the motions of a human finger like flexion and extension,” said Engeberg. “Because of its light weight, dexterity and strength, our robotic design offers tremendous advantages over traditional mechanisms, and could ultimately be adapted for use as a prosthetic device, such as on a prosthetic hand.”

How cockroaches could save lives

The insects’ legs are also providing ideas for researchers designing the next generation of prosthetic legs for humans. And the mechanics of their springiness are the basis for the grip in a new mechanical hand. The aim, according to Robert D Howe, head of Harvard’s Biorobotics Laboratory, is to produce a hand that can “glide along objects until it wraps around them, just like a human hand lifting a coffee cup”.

Then there’s the robotic roach – a fusion of live cockroach and mini-computer, surgically attached to its back. By sending messages to the computer, the cockroach can be directed to places that are hard for to humans to access, such as collapsed buildings or broken sewers, where they collect data.

“When I first saw them, my hair stood up,” says the lead researcher on a project at Texas A&M University, Hong Liang. “But I went on to keep some in my office as pets for a while. They are actually beautiful creatures. They are constantly cleaning themselves.”

Lower-Limb TMR

In this project, we aim to provide novel low cost sensory feedback that could be useful for identifying and preventing dangerous situations like tripping and slipping. Our research will focus on closing the sensory feedback loop for transtibial amputees (TTAs) that have undergone Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (TMR) surgery. TMR is a surgical procedure currently being tested in our research group to reduce neuroma formation at the site of amputation, but an interesting side effect is mapping of afferent nerves from the lost limb to a new patch of intact skin. This means that when the TMR site is touched, patients will feel that their phantom limb is being touched. By taking advantage of this phenomenon, we can place non-invasive stimulators over the TMR site to create discernible sensations on the missing limb, using information from sensors on the prosthetic limb.

Active Soft Orthotic System for Shoulder Rehabilitation

Stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in the United States, affecting over 750,000 people annually. In order to regain motor function of the upper body, patients are usually treated by regular sessions with a dedicated physical therapist. However, the use of therapists is expensive, in high demand, and requires the patient travel to a rehabilitation clinic.

We propose an inexpensive wearable upper body orthotics system that can be used at home to empower both the patients and physical therapists. The system is composed of a thin, compliant, lightweight soft orthotic device with an integrated cable actuation system that is worn over the upper body, an embedded limb position sensing system, and an actuator package.

Rocky Roads Ahead for Georgia Tech Robots

Others like Georgia Tech’s Sandbot use wheels instead of legs, or even treads, to move over difficult terrain without slowing down, falling over, or stopping altogether. The latest research from the university’s School of Physics team headed by professor Dan Goldman studied the movements of Sandbot and several animals through a variety of simulated surfaces. Its conclusions? It’s possible to correlate several variables like how appendages are designed and how fast they move with how well they perform across the range of surfaces. Future uses of this analysis could design better legs help a robot exploring planets in another solar system avoid getting stuck in loose alien soil.

Preventing Tissue Damage

Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) has many benefits for patients. Compared to open surgery during which surgeons to feel the tissues directly by hands, all the instruments used in RMIS are long and narrow, inserted through narrow cannulae placed at the abdominal wall, eliminating touch sensation of tissue. Loss of haptic feedback in RMIS is a major limitation to surgeons since extensive applied force due to the lack of haptic feedback may cause unrecognized tissue damage, which could be more complicated in consideration of the various interface pattern between tissue and instrument. The research seeks to develop an approach with which 1) the forces applied to the soft tissue would be predicted without using force sensors; and 2) tissue damage magnitude and grasp quality could be estimated for a wide range of grasper-tissue interaction.

Medical Snake Robot

In order to overcome the limitations of currently available assistive technologies for minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS), we develop and tested a first prototype based on an innovative approach of a highly articulated robotic probe (HARP). We hypothesize that, for procedures involving epicardial interventions on the beating heart, MICS can be effectively realized with the HARP, entering the pericardial cavity through a subxiphoid port, reaching remote intrapericardial locations on the epicardium without causing hemodynamic and electrophysiologic interference, attaching to the target surface, and delivering therapeutic interventions under the direct control of the surgeon.