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Imitating Nature

Imitating Nature

Imitating Nature

From robots that imitate the behaviour of plants and fish to upper limb prostheses that can provide tactile sensations to patients, the challenge of bio-inspired robotics or bio-robotics is to reproduce, in artificial systems, the physical, chemical and biological processes developed by nature of the course of evolution. Thus, the nature of living organisms becomes a source of inspiration of the development of applications in the medical, surgical, diagnostic and rehabilitative fields, as well as humanoid or animal-inspired systems with advanced capabilities that are more sustainable and adaptable to natural environments and capable of collaborating with mankind in hostile environments, from marine abysses to the rubble caused by an earthquake.

 

This will be the focus of the opening conference of RomeCup 2018 with three international experts and pioneers in different sectors. The “Future of Bio-robotics: Imitating Nature for the Progress of Science and Automation Technology” Conference will be held today – April 16, 2018 – at 10 am in the Aula Magna of the Rome Campus Bio-Medico University.

 

OCEANONE: THE FIRST HUMANOID ROBOT THAT CAN OPERATE UNDER WATER

Oussama Khatib, Stanford University           

 

Submarine ecology, climactic changes or submerged ancient sites … The fascinating depths of the ocean are inaccessible to mankind and remotely controlled devices are not sufficiently advanced for the task. A robotic avatar can reach depths that no man could face, as far as 2000 metres under sea level, but also conserving – through immersive interfaces – human intelligence and intention. Ocean One is a bimanual humanoid with an interface that connects it to its operators touch and vision. In 2016, it was the first robot avatar ever to tread the ocean floor and explore a sunken ship belonging to Louis XIV.

 

CYBATHLON: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR DISABLED ATHLETES ASSISTED BY BIO-ROBOTIC AIDS

Robert Riener, ETH, Zurich

 

The Cybathlon is the first international competition for disabled individuals that allows the use of assistive bionic technology. Conceived by Professor Riener and promoted for the first time in 2016 by the National Competence Centre of Research in Zurich, the Cybathlon addresses bionic athletes, or individuals with disabilities that manage to compete thanks to the use of robotics prostheses, exoskeletons and other devices conceived to improve athletic endeavours.

The competition disciplines include all devices that are forbidden at the para-Olympics and represent an opportunity to test the efficiency and sensibility of public opinion and the scientific community of the needs of those who live with motor disabilities.

 

NEUROPROSTHESES: NEURAL INTERFACES FOR NEW GENERATION ROBOTICS HANDS

Nitish V. Thakor, National University of Singapore and Johns Hopkins University

Prof. Thakor, one of the foremost experts on Bionics and Bio-robotics, directs the Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SiNAPSE). The institute brings together research, computational, experimental and clinical scientists with engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs to pursue research on the brain and its cognitive and neuro-biological mechanisms: from the construction of mathematical and computational models to the development of machine-brain interfaces and the treatment of specific cerebral issues. Prof. Thakor will focus on "Neuro-prostheses: from the Brain to the Hand of an Amputee” and “Neurobionics: Creating an Electronic Connection for Brain-Machine Interfaces."

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