Better Robotics: Mechanical Mobility is Improving in Leaps and Bounds

AMHERST, NY, November 12, 2012

Many people in New York and around the nation face severe mobility difficulties, sometimes due to a paralyzing spinal cord injury or amputations. Although big challenges remain, new research is paving the way towards a potentially more mobile future.

Improvements in robotic technologies could allow disabled people to fight past spinal cord injuries and amputations to regain more mobility. One high-profile project is quickly developing a greater understanding of the complex neurological processes that allow humans to deftly maneuver on two feet. Another project recently received a lot of attention for creating a nimble, responsive and fast-moving bipedal robot.

These kinds of projects could see future applications in the fields of prosthetics, spinal cord treatment and even robotic exoskeletons.

The Science of Going for a Stroll

As disabled Americans know all too well, the simple act of walking is easily taken for granted. Humans are able to efficiently navigate without even stopping to think about it. A new robotics project is trying to understand what allows us to do that - its breakthroughs allowed the researchers to create incredibly responsive and accurate robotic legs.

Our feet and legs constantly monitor high volumes of small details about the terrain on which we walk. The lower limbs transmit this information to a specific network of neurons in the spinal cord. This network processes all of the information and uses it to balance us while walking on two feet. Thus, as a result of this complex but subliminal analysis, we are able to walk smoothly and responsively without focusing on what we are doing.

Using a complex system of sensors in a set of robotic legs, researchers were able to replicate this process. Some sensors monitor the ground underneath the robot's feet while others alert the system to the position of each leg. With all of these components working together, the robot could respond to changing terrain and compensate its movements to keep walking steadily.

This could not only allow us to someday design robotic prosthetic legs--it also provides crucial information about how the neurological system handles motion. Greater understanding of these systems could help treat spinal cord injuries.

MABEL the Jogging Robot

Other projects are pushing robotic research in similar directions. A group of researchers from the University of Michigan recently received Popular Mechanics' Breakthrough Innovator Award for creating an incredibly nimble robot.

The robot, known as MABEL, can move with as much agility as many people. MABEL can run a 9-minute mile, move backwards and forwards, and even recover from stumbles. Researchers say the robot does a better job responding to trips and stumbles than humans do.

Even more surprisingly, MABEL did all of this without using cameras to guide it. Instead, the robot relied on feedback algorithms. This means that the system detected what its feet were encountering and calculated the best response fast enough to avoid a fall.

These researchers are already pushing forward with new, improved models that will probably be able to do even more than MABEL could.

Conclusions

All of this is good news for mobility-challenged Americans. Spinal cord injuries and amputations can dramatically change patients' lives. Some patients find themselves unable to work and need to apply for Social Security disability benefits.

Better robotics could contribute to powered prosthetics that connect to a user's brain signals - allowing people to move around almost as naturally as they could before an injury or amputation. This promise of improved mobility is certainly a good reason for optimism.

Website: http://www.kennethhiller.com