A smart cane
PHOTO ANDREW BRODHEAD, SUPPLIED BY STANFORD
Stanford doctoral student Michael John Raitor tests the smart cane.
Blind people could walk 18% faster, with fewer small collisions, thanks to this cane with obstacle sensors. Invented by engineers at Stanford University, it warns its owner through a “haptic” handle (sending feedback) and a wheel located at its base (which deviates the trajectory or brakes, if necessary. ). Testing of blindfolded students was described in October in Science Robotics.
Insulin without sting
PHOTO PROVIDED BY SANT’ANNA HIGHER SCHOOL
The needleless insulin pump developed by pisan engineers.
Italian engineers have developed a needle-free insulin pump. Installed in the patient’s body, it is supplied with insulin by smart pills guided by magnetism. The smart pills are then excreted and reused. In Science Robotics Last summer, researchers from the Sant’Anna Higher School in Pisa described validation tests in pigs with diabetes.
The robot ankle …
PHOTO PROVIDED BY BIODESIGN LAB
The exoskeleton designed by Harvard engineers
An exoskeleton installed around the ankles, optimized for the movements of the soleus muscle, can reduce energy consumption by 8% to 15%, according to engineers at Harvard University. This custom optimization makes it possible to require fewer batteries for the exoskeleton. These Boston researchers described in November in Science Robotics how they tested their three-speed invention on the flat, as well as on a hill. The maximum energy gain was on the flat, at low speed.
… and his cousin the knee
PHOTO FROM ASCEND WEBSITE
The knee exoskeleton Ascend
A new, less expensive option will soon be offered to alleviate the locomotion difficulties of the elderly. The United States Department of Veterans will test, in early 2022, a robot knee designed by the company Roam Robotics. The Ascend exoskeleton knee halves pain and improves mobility in patients with reduced mobility by 67%, according to an internet study by Roam Robotics. In the United States, the Ascend is expected to cost US $ 7,000, much less than exoskeletons covering the entire lower body, which can border on $ 100,000 CAD.
COVID-19 Police
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND
A robot is used to verify compliance with the interpersonal distances prescribed for the COVID-19 pandemic.
A robot could warn people who do not respect prescribed distances from others during a pandemic, according to engineers at the University of Maryland. This robot can even analyze data from public surveillance cameras, to detect violations of physical distancing and go to warn offenders. The American researchers, who described their algorithm in early December in the journal PLoS One, now want to optimize the messages to offenders so as not to create conflict.
The electrocardiogram sweater
PHOTO JEFF FITLOW, PROVIDED BY RICE UNIVERSITY
Rice University doctoral student Lauren Taylor shows off the nanotube sweater she tested to measure her heart rate.
Engineers at Rice University in Houston have developed a sweater woven from “nanotube” fibers that record the heartbeat better than a monitor attached to the chest (commonly used for testing at home). In the Nano Letters, in September, these Texas researchers explained that the performance of nanotubes does not decrease with washing and that they can be connected to a Bluetooth device, for continuous monitoring of the heart rate.