Finding shipwrecks, AI in architecture, and can an exo help you jump?
Plus the long-term viability of brain-controlled prosthetics.
Welcome to the Michigan Robotics newsletter, a summary of what’s happening in the University of Michigan Robotics community.
Make sure to watch the first installment of The Testing Lab, a new series where we uncover just how capable robotics are today, and where we might be able to take them. Don’t miss the Tech Talk & Panel, led by Emily Bywater.
Research
Responsive ankle exoskeleton algorithm handles changes in pace and gait
This project started as an idea during the early part of the pandemic to develop an exo controller that didn’t need to have an explicit mode change between walking and running, by Leia Stirling and Paul Pridham.
The implemented controller successfully adapts its assistance in response to changing phase and task variables, both during controlled treadmill trials and a real-world stress test with extremely uneven terrain, from Leo Medrano, Gray Thomas, Connor Keais, Elliott Rouse and Robert Gregg.
Core Challenges of Social Robot Navigation
Researchers, led by Christoforos Mavrogiannis, observe a number of significant remaining challenges that prohibit the seamless deployment of autonomous robots in crowded environments.
Design Principles for Robot-Assisted Feeding in Social Contexts
Researchers, including Patrícia Alves-Oliveira, earned a Best Design Paper from the 2023 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction for finding that robots' unique assistive qualities can address challenges people with motor impairments face during social dining, promoting empowerment and belonging.
Enhanced Autonomy Transparency on Trust, Dependence, and Human-Autonomy Team Performance
By conveying an intelligent assistant’s decision-making rationale via a display, participants’ trust increased significantly and became more calibrated over time, from Ruikun Luo, Na Du, and X. Jessie Yang.
Highly Dynamic Bistable Soft Actuator for Reconfigurable Multimodal Soft Robots
By using soft bistable actuators as an artificial muscle for shape-reconfigurable soft robots, a reconfigurable amphibious robot that can walk on land and swim in water, a jumping robot that can crawl and jump, and a caterpillar-inspired rolling robot that can crawl and roll are created, from research co-led by Sean Huang.
With accurate use of the prosthetics over 600 days, this study demonstrates the potential of RPNIs and implanted EMG electrodes, from Deanna Gates, Cynthia Chestek, and Paul Cederna.
Watch
Katie Skinner leads a team using artificial intelligence to scour sonar data and quickly identify areas that warrant a closer look in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Lake Huron.
For bipedal robots to successfully operate, they must be competent at simultaneously executing multiple motion tasks while reacting to unforeseen external disturbances, from Alphonsus Adu-Bredu and Grant Gibson
Read
Learn how Matias del Campo and Taubman College pioneer AI in architecture. Del Campo also won a Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize for his courses that address the technical and ethical implications.
Congrats
Cindy Chestek inducted into the 2023 class of the AIMBE Fellows
This is among the highest professional distinctions in the field of medical and biological engineering, reserved for the top two percent of professionals in the field.
Robotics Student Award Winners of 2023
Robotics students who earned academic and leadership awards include:
Alexander Bowler
Jacob Jancek
Prince Kuevor
Andrea Sipos
Samantha Staudinger
Joseph Taylor
ROB 102 team earns award for innovation in equity
Jana Pavlasek and Professor Chad Jenkins were awarded the Claudia Joan Alexander Trailblazer Award for their work developing the innovative program that supports equity in STEM.
Zachary Bons and Emily Keller received the fellowship that helps ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce.
Life Sciences Innovation Hub awards $1M to biomedical projects
Elliott Rouse’s project for an intelligent ankle-foot orthosis that can automatically adjust across activities and users was awarded funding for its high potential to impact human health.
Parting shot
