Research Keyword Robotics

David Reinkensmeyer

http://www.eng.uci.edu/~dreinken/djr.htm

Professor

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Office: EG 3225
Lab: EG 2123

Professor (Joint Appointment)

Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Reinkensmeyer is interested in biomedical engineering and robotics. He is specifically interested in the area of biomechatronics, or the use of intelligent electromechanical systems to diagnose, treat and support affected functions of the human body.

Dr. Reinkensmeyer's research activities focus on movement control, neuro-rehabilitation and robotics. One of his group's objectives is to develop physically interacting, mechatronic devices ("rehabilitators") to help the nervous system recover movement ability after neurologic injuries such as stroke or spinal cord injury. His group also is working to understand the adaptive control processes that enable motor learning throughout the life span.

Dr. Reinkensmeyer is currently developing a Web-based program for physical rehabilitation after brain injury. Another project focuses on motor adaptation to robot-generated force fields. He also is investigating the use of robot-assisted training to recover locomotion after spinal cord injury, and has developed a tool called the ARM guide for rehabilitation of movement in the arms.

Bruce Blumberg

http://blumberg-serv.bio.uci.edu/

Associate Professor

Developmental and Cell Biology

Office: MH 2113E

Associate Professor (Joint Appointment)

Biomedical Engineering

Research Interests: Biorobotics and Functional Genomics

James Bobrow

http://gram.eng.uci.edu/~bobrow/

Professor

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Office: EG 3220
Lab: EG 3132
Lab: EG 3140
Lab: EG 3150

Dr. Bobrow is interested in robotics, dynamics and control of nonlinear systems, and applications of numerical optimization techniques to electromechanical design.

Dr. Bobrow and his group are currently focused on developing algorithms for the optimal design and control of machines. His team has developed a unified formulation of the dynamics of branched kinetic chains to accomplish this goal. Current applications include legged locomotion systems and human walking rehabilitation.

Dr. Bobrow also is working with fluid-powered actuators to achieve high-bandwidth control. He uses modern nonlinear control theory to show that such actuators rival the dynamic performance of electric motors with much lower weight and less cost. Applications of this research include a pneumatic robot and a high-performance, low-cost personal vehicle simulator.

In another project, Dr. Bobrow is trying to achieve maximum shock isolation and damping from a reset-able actuator. His group has developed a simple, nonlinear device that achieves damping characteristics similar to rate-dependent dampers, but is only dependent on position, therefore causing smaller forces to be transmitted to the vibrating payload.

Michael McCarthy

http://www.eng.uci.edu/~mccarthy/

Professor

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Office: EG 4203
Lab: EG 3123
Lab: EG 3140
Lab: EG 3150