Bioinics
Human integrated robotics are opening a new world for those with disabilities. A new crowd funded project hopes to take you on one man's journey into this world. |
For many imagining a world where humanoid robots assist us every day in doing tasks that are difficult, dangerous or just boring is not far off. The androids at the DARPA Robotics Challenge may have been falling down more than succeeding this summer, but they have come a long way, and are offering a real glimpse of the possibilities. Perhaps more importantly, the computer systems and smart software are also rapidly catching up to meed this incredibly complex challenge.
For some, the promise of advances in robotics is especially critical. Coupled with developments in brain computer interfaces (BCI), machine intelligence, neuroscience, and computer vision, technologies are rapidly converging making possible bionic dreams.
In a new Kickstarter project, one team is hoping to share just how much of an impact robotic prosthetics can have on a life.
Dr. Tom Wachtel was a Navy Flight Surgeon who served in Vietnam, and retired in 1998 after 37 years of service. Wachtel has written nine medical books, 22 book chapters and more than 150 scientific papers on: burns, trauma, wound healing, nutrition, death and dying, and medical education.
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In 2008, while volunteering to fill a critical staff shortage of trauma surgeons at the University of Arizona Medical Center, in Tucson, AZ, Tom suffered a neck injury that left him paralyzed. For the first time in his life, a man who dedicated his life to serve the needs of others now needed assistance to perform even the most basic tasks.
Then early in 2014, Dr. Chi visited Wachtel and showed him some exciting results from research at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) that is revolutionizing the way humans interact with machines.
Chi was recently on the team that provided incredible two robotic thought-controlled arm prostheses to Les Baugh, a double amputee.
"The problem that somebody that has an amputation or spinal cord injury isn't that they can't think about moving and/or many more sense they physically can't do it their number things we think the technology can do." |
For instance, a set of robotic arms could help him use his fingers for the first time in seven years. Through intensive therapy, Wachtel has regained some movement. He can lift his arms. But he still can’t use his fingers.
"The problem that somebody that has an amputation or spinal cord injury isn't that they can't think about moving and/or many more sense they physically can't do it their number things we think the technology can do," states Michael McLoughlin, one of the researchers behind the robotic system at Johns Hopkins,
Wachtel hopes robotic arms will allow him to brush his teeth and comb his hair and perhaps use a regular spoon instead of the adaptive version he uses, attached to a piece of circular plastic that fits around his hand.
The robotics firm, Harmony Robotics intends to use tele-operated bimanual robotic platform with human-like capability to bring this capability into Wachtel's home.
Harmony Robotic's system, Transcend, will control a high-dexterity robotic arm, such as the Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL) developed by JHU/APL. In the project they intend to demonstrate the ability to conduct ordinary activities, such as pouring a cup of coffee or reading the sports page, or holding the hand of a loved one - activities that most of us take for granted.
SOURCE Transcendent Robotics on Kickstarter
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