Robotics & Automation News

Where Innovation Meets Imagination

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Columbia develops ‘robotic trunk support assists’ for people with spinal cord injuries

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Engineers at Columbia university have invented a robotic trunk-support-trainer to retrain patients with spinal cord injury to sit more stably and gain an expanded active sitting workspace. (See video below.)

Spinal cord injuries (SCI) can cause devastating damage, including loss of mobility and sensation. Every year, there are an estimated 17,000 new SCIs in the US alone, a rate higher than in most regions of the world.

In addition, the rate of SCIs in people 65 years or older is expected to rise in the US, from 13 percent in 2010 to 16.1 percent by 2020. [Read more…] about Columbia develops ‘robotic trunk support assists’ for people with spinal cord injuries

Columbia university develops robotic neck brace that ‘dramatically improves’ movement

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Columbia university has developed a robotic neck brace that it says “dramatically improves functions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. (See video below.)

The brace incorporates both sensors and actuators to “restore roughly 70 percent of the active range of motion”.

The novel neck brace, which supports the neck during its natural motion, was designed by Columbia university engineers. [Read more…] about Columbia university develops robotic neck brace that ‘dramatically improves’ movement

Columbia university demonstrates robotic cane to ‘improve stability in walking’

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Columbia University has demonstrated a robotic cane which it claims can “improve stability in walking”.

The developers say the device acts as a cane-like mobile assistant to provide “light-touch” operation to help the elderly and others with impaired mobility.

By adding electronics and computation technology to a simple cane that has been around since ancient times, a team of researchers at Columbia Engineering have transformed it into a 21st-century robotic device that can provide light-touch assistance in walking to the aged and others with impaired mobility. [Read more…] about Columbia university demonstrates robotic cane to ‘improve stability in walking’