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SUMMARY:Soft wearable robots for the community and the home
DTSTART:20170926T110000
DTEND:20170926T120000
DTSTAMP:20260430T010216Z
UID:c95d79199b35855fb7def1fa31772bec464b9b6a0fc158324cc7d527
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Connor J. Walsh\, Harvard University\, USA.\nThe goal of this 
 talk is to highlight recent and growing efforts in the field of soft weara
 ble robotics and discuss how this technologies may be used in a variety of
  contexts. This rapidly emerging field of soft robotics presents a new opp
 ortunity to develop a new class of wearable assistive technology optimized
  for the needs of individuals with residual capacity\, i.e. where only sma
 ll to moderate levels of assistance is needed to improve function.  The t
 echnical requirements for actuation\, human interface\, and sensors/contro
 l needed to realize soft wearable robots are fundamentally different than 
 those for rigid exoskeletons\, necessitating fundamental technological dev
 elopment in areas of actuation\, sensing\, flexible electronics\, control 
 and system integration.\n\nWe present this technology in two application a
 reas\, for stroke and spinal cord injury for both the upper and lower extr
 emity and highlight that by leveraging the capabilities of soft robotics\,
  systems can be developed that are suitable for the home and community env
 ironment.\n\nBio:\nConor Walsh is the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of 
 Engineering and Applied Sciences at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of 
 Engineering & Applied Sciences and a Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Insti
 tute at Harvard University. He is the founder of the Harvard Biodesign Lab
 \, which brings together researchers from the engineering\, industrial des
 ign\, apparel\, clinical and business communities to develop new disruptiv
 e robotic technologies for augmenting and restoring human performance. Thi
 s research includes new approaches to the design\, manufacture and control
  of wearable robotic devices and characterizing their performance through 
 biomechanical and physiological studies so as to further the scientific un
 derstanding of how humans interact with such machines. Example application
  areas include enhancing the ability of healthy individuals\, restoring th
 e capabilities of patients with physical impairments. His research group h
 is highly translation focused and actively engages with industry with mult
 iple technologies having already been licensed.\nHe is passionate about ed
 ucating future innovators and promoting STEM fields and with colleagues la
 unched the Soft Robotics Toolkit (www.softroboticstoolkit.com)\, an open s
 ource resource to promote and disseminate materials for soft robotics. He 
 is the winner of multiple awards including the MIT Technology Review Innov
 ator Under 35 Award\, IEEE Early Academic Career Award in Robotics and Aut
 omation\, the Rolex Award for Enterprise\, Popular Science Brilliant 10\, 
 National Science Foundation Career Award\, the Robotics Business Review Ne
 xt Generation Game Changer Award and the MIT 100K Entrepreneurship Competi
 tion Grand Prize. Conor received his undergraduate degree from Trinity Col
 lege in Dublin\, Ireland\, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engine
 ering from MIT.
LOCATION:Campus Biotech H8 Auditorium http://cnp.epfl.ch/files/content/sit
 es/cnp/files/Seminars/PlanSallesCampusBiotechH8-01.pdf
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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