(repost)

Japanese company Riken has partnered up with Tokai Rubber in the creation of the RIBA II nursing assistant robot. At the joint laboratory RTC, RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research, they have taken the RIBA Robot, from 2008, and upgraded the lifting abilities (by 41 lbs) and control interface to the point where it will be a tool for medical use.

I know a few hospital volunteers that say they have to lift elderly, sick, and disabled people in and out of beds and chairs routinely throughout the day. Depending on the condition of the patient, they say it can be an extremely difficult and cumbersome task to handle. This is where the RIBA II come in to play.

The 507 lbs (230 kg) robot can handle patients of up to 176 lbs (80 kg). Each are in covered in soft rubber, and has 7 degrees of freedom. The head has 3, waist has 2, and the omni-directional base has 3 more degrees of freedom. A touchscreen on the RIBA II bot's back will allow nurses to direct the bot to locations. Onboard laser range finders, proximity sensors, bumper sensors, and voice commands will help the RIBA II avoid obstacles and prevent accidents.

Direct control of the RIBA II is the most innovative addition to the platform. The robot is covered in "Smart Rubber" that is the world's first capacitive touch rubber surface.  The sensors are on the bot's upper arms, forearms, hands, and chest. A nurse can then physically guide the bot quickly and make adjustments on the fly for hoisting the patient. Like the RIBA I, the RIBA II's Tokai Rubber also detect slippage and will adjust on its own to keep the patient comfortable.

RIBA II has the same "bear" head that was on the original RIBA. The designers claim this is to not scare the patient. The original lifting bot RI-MAN, which could only handle 41 lbs (18 kg), was a little scary. I question the use of either head. It is just a tool, right? A human forklift, in other words. Make it as non-anthropomorphized as possible, in my opinion.

(RI-MAN by RIKEN)

When available in 2015, the RIBA II will cost $77,000 USD (6,000,000 JPY). Much more expensive than the free volunteers most hospitals depend on.

video via youtube member kmoriyama

(All pictures via RIKEN)

Imagine being told you or your loved one will never be able to walk again, the devastation, the shock …

Well, there may be hope after-all.  In a lab at Duke University doctors, engineers, neuroscientists and physiologists from Brazil, Switzerland, Germany and the United States are all actively working on what many might call a miracle, a “prosthetic exoskeleton” that would allow those immobilized by injury or illness to walk again.  Their goal is to demonstrate that they could bypass the body’s complex network of nerve endings and supply the sensation of touch right to the brains of monkeys.

Dr Nicolelis, a Brazilian-born physician and neuroscientist, is bringing together brain science and engineering or sensory feedback and brain control devices to be combined in real time and in a useful way.  Kip Ludwig, who has funded some of Nicolelis’ work, states, “Before, they’ve always been separate.”  He also states that, ideally, the long-term goal would be a prosthetic that would send all the sensory information – touch, position and temperature- to a body part that would add meaning to it."

Nicolelis’ team has “recruited” two female monkeys, from southern Asia, to demonstrate the feasibility of their ideas. The team is sending electrical signals to the monkey’s brain to distinguish between three identical circles with different textures.  These sensations will come from coded electrical currents sent to each monkey’s sensory cortex, or outer layer of the brain, by four filaments the width of hair.

Nicolelis explained the brain the motor drive purpose, “The team is starting with simple experiments for Mango and Nectarine, (the monkeys) so that when the experiments move to humans he or she will not only learn quickly how to initiate and repeat movements using thought alone, but the prosthetic should interface so seamlessly with the intelligent human brain that the patient will begin to see the prosthetic as a natural extension of him or herself.... It would be just like a car…only a little tighter.”

Now, when is this determined and industrious goal expected to happen you ask?  This wonderful team that Nicolelis has put together, hopes to send a young quadriplegic striding out to midfield to open the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil, suited up in an “prosthetic exoskeleton."

How is that for ambitious?

Eavesdropper

Pictures and video via Duke University

The Department of Chemistry at Pennsylvania State University may have just built the future power plant for inner-human body robotics. At just 3.6 micrometers long, a rod consisting of copper (Cu) and Platinum (Pt) acts as both a battery and a motor. Researchers Dr. Ran Liu and Professor Ayusman Sen both believe this nanomotor-battery could be a different way to control drug administration.

The Cu-Pt rod, when placed in a solution of bromine or iodine (an oxidant), the Cu portion acts as an anode (with oxidizing) and the Pt part functions as a cathode. As the battery discharges, electrophoresis begins forcing the rod to move. In other words, the battery is short-circuited and the current produced is then changed to mechanical force.

The nanomotor effect continues until the Cu portion is completely oxidized. Adjusting the length of Cu changes how long or fast the rod moves. In the experiments, the movement lasted 40 seconds to 1 minute. Shorter lengths of Cu makes the motor move faster, but for a shorter time. The opposite is true for longer segments. By polishing one side of the Co end, the rod will act like a rotor. Making an asymmetrical end causes the rod to rotate up to speeds of 170 rpm (in bromine). 

The team's next step is to see if the battery/nanomotor can be recharged or reused. This is definitely smaller than the current alternative.

Eavesdropper