Servo - October 2010

Robytes by Jeff and Jenn Eckert

Prosthetic Limb Project Funded

Final prototype of the Modular Prosthetic Limb.
Courtesy of DARPA/JHUAPL/HDT
Engineering Services.

Late last year, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (APL, www.jhuapl.edu) demonstrated the final prototype of its Modular Prosthetic Limb (MPL), developed under a four-year program sponsored by DARPA ( www.darpa.gov). Apparently, the agency was impressed, because it has awarded APL another $34.5 million to further develop the unit and test it on human subjects. The MPL offers 22 degrees of motion (including independent movement of the fingers and thumb) and weighs about 9 lbs — the same as the average natural limb. Perhaps the most impressive feature is that it’s controlled by the wearer’s thoughts via implanted microarrays, and it also provides feedback to the brain. Program manager Michael McLoughlin observed, “We’ve developed the enabling technologies to create upper-extremity prosthetics that are more natural in appearance and use. Now, in Phase 3, we are ready to test it with humans to demonstrate that the system can be operated with a patient’s thoughts and that it can provide that patient with sensory feedback, restoring the sensation of touch.” Within the next year, the APL team intends to install one on a real patient with a high spinal cord injury, and they plan to expand that to five over the next two years.

Rescue Bot for Earthquake Victims

Given that about 20 percent of the world’s most powerful earthquakes hit Japan, it figures that the folks

Quince — a new rescue bot developed at the Chiba Institute of Technology.

who inhabit the island nation have serious concern about them. Accordingly, researchers at the Chiba Institute of Technology’s Future Robotics Technology Center ( www.furo.org) have developed Quince — a disasterbot designed to crawl through debris, map terrain in three dimensions, and deliver food, water, and cell phones to people trapped under quake rubble. Controlled via a game console, Quince can wander around at distances up to about 255 ft (700 m) and navigate inclines of up to 82 degrees. Using its robotic arm, Quince can also open doors, move rubble, etc., and it’s fitted with a camera, and IR and CO2 sensors that help locate survivors. Collected information is sent back to rescue workers via Wi-Fi. According to Eiji Koyanagi, Vice Director of the Center, “The 3D mapping of the disaster site gives rescuers an idea about where the victims are and which point of access gives them the best chance to save a life.” The next step is to put it to work at the Chiba City fire department to see how it fares in actual rescue operations.

And Another for Drownings

Also designed to save lives is the new SARbot underwater rescue system from SeaBotix, Inc. (www. seabotix.com), vendors of the Little Benthic Vehicle (LBV) family of small underwater vehicles. The company was approached by the UK’s Derbyshire Fire & Rescue unit which deals with more than 700 drownings every year. Apparently, on any given night, some overindulgent pub crawlers — while stumbling home late at night — either decide to take a dip or just fall in. They subsequently inhale water and go unconscious.