The High-Temperature Carbon-Fiber 3D Printing Challenge invited engineers and designers to submit ideas on how to leverage cutting-edge materials from Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials. Participants in the challenge were asked to incorporate the strength and properties of the KyronMax&reg; carbon-fiber 3D printing filament with the flexibility and sustainability of 3D printing in their design.We are composing a&nbsp;series of articles featuring the finalists and winners of the challenge.In this article we showcase the work of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinkocher/" target="_blank">Robin Kocher</a> from Human Earth Industries an upcoming player in the micro-engineered suits domain.<h2 dir="ltr">Suits for the future</h2>The specialized suits designed by Kocher, aims to protect against harsh weather conditions. The suits are primarily intended for providing support during disaster relief, extreme sports, and various outdoor activities. They have multiple layers which can be customized based on the activity.&quot;We visualize the company in two parts. The primary focus behind Human Earth Industries is facilitating a change in society, imparting a sense of awareness in people regarding the 17 sustainable development goals, and spreading the word of change. The second part is the engineering aspect of it, where we aim to revolutionize the fashion technology industry,&quot; said Kocher. The idea for developing the suits was first conceptualized when Robin was still a student. As a gaming enthusiast, he wondered how the advanced suits in video games would be like in the real world. &quot;My interest in video games and science fiction helped me design the fabrics for the prototype. The ideas stemmed mainly from publicly available research,&quot; he added. &nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY5NTc0MzQxNDM4LWltYWdlMS5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The suit imagined by Human Earth Industries. Image credit: Human Earth Industries<h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Sustainability is the top priority</h2>The suit has a customizable design where one can alter various functionalities. It would be possible to insert a layer that can measure the heart rate, blood oxygen, and ambient conditions. Additionally, another layer with a pathfinder module and smart ventilation (heating and cooling), primarily geared towards disaster relief activities would also be incorporated. &quot;The material that we use for the suits are not particularly environmentally friendly. I want to make products that can be used for a long time and the suits are designed to last a lifetime. I want people to pass on the suits to the next generations. This is one of my approaches to sustainability. The components would be made from bio-compostable products in the future,&quot; said Kocher.<h2 dir="ltr">Diversifying functionalities with carbon-fiber</h2>The early-stage startup wants to engineer their specialized suits for various operations. For instance, Robin has deep-dived into the topic and has identified the risks involved for horseback riders.He is developing a prototype of a safety vest with a carbon fiber layer that protects the riders from potentially severe falls. This vest can also be purposed for other activities such as skiing and motorbiking.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY5NTc0MzkzODMxLWltYWdlMi5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">MCAM&rsquo;s Growth Garage challenge pushed design ideation</h2>When we asked Robin, what the most challenging criteria of the submission was, he said: &quot;The criteria pertaining to the technical requirements was quite impressive, especially when we had to work with high-temperature requirements. When we started designing the product, we had to make sure that it satisfied the sustainability as well the high temperature criterion. It helped me visualize the incorporation of the carbon fiber layer in the specialized suits. The challenge was quite an enjoyable experience for me.&quot;Kocher is impressed by Mitsubishi Chemical&rsquo;s focus on sustainability and conscientious practices. It was also one of the reasons that compelled him to enter the challenge. &quot;As a self-financed startup, it is always nice to receive support from organizations that can help us take our product to the next level, in terms of design, manufacturing and product upgrades. I would love to take part in the new challenges and create an awareness of thriving in the industry by consciously contributing back to the environment and society,&quot; he said.Follow <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/growth-garage-mcam/" target="_blank">Growth Garage</a>&#39;s&nbsp;LinkedIn page for more interesting stories about 3D printing entrepreneurs in various fields.<h2 id="isPasted">The Composite Engineering Challenge</h2>We are inviting innovators, entrepreneurs, and early adopters at universities, (pre-) startups, and scaleups that need fiber-reinforced composites to realize their prototype, part, product, or application.&nbsp;We welcome projects, programs, and companies in the field of new mobility (EV, e-motor, battery casing, etc.), autonomous (delivery) vehicles, people movers, robotics, aerospace, space, bicycles, UAV, AAV, bionics (wheelchairs, exoskeletons, prosthetics), alternative energy (production, storage, transport), self-sensing or self-healing, sport &amp; leisure, alternative (low carbon footprint) fibers and more!The winning entry will be rewarded with a partnership with Growth Garage,&nbsp;Business Incubator of the MCG Advanced Materials Division.&nbsp;This partnership package is valued at $25,000 and will be tailored to the winning team&rsquo;s needs according to their current business and product development stage.&nbsp;<a class="button-main-action" href="https://wevlv.co/homepage-banner" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">READ MORE ABOUT THE CHALLENGE HERE.</a><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><h2>Key Dates</h2><table><tbody><tr><td>Composite Challenge Launch&nbsp;</td><td>Monday, October 24th, 2022</td></tr><tr><td>Challenge Close&nbsp;</td><td>Sunday 22 January 2023&nbsp; </td></tr><tr><td>Finalists Announced&nbsp;</td><td>Wednesday 1 February 2023&nbsp; </td></tr><tr><td>Wevolver Community Vote&nbsp;</td><td>From 1-12 February 2023&nbsp; </td></tr><tr><td>Winners announcement&nbsp;</td><td>Tuesday 21 February 2023&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY5NTc0NDUyMDMzLWV5SmlkV05yWlhRaU9pSjNaWFp2YkhabGNpMXdjbTlxWldOMExXbHRZV2RsY3lJc0ltdGxlU0k2SW1aeWIyRnNZUzh4TmpZMk5UazRNakEyTlRnMExVMURSeUJzYjJkdklHSmhibTVsY2k1cWNHY2lMQ0psWkdsMGN5STZleUp5WlhOcGVtVWlPbnNpZDJsa2RHZ2lPamsxTUN3aVptbDBJam9pWTI5MlpYSWlmWDE5LndlYnAiLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">

Carbon fiber fashion aims to assist humans to endure extreme weather and activities. 


Augmenting human endurance with carbon fiber suits

<a href="https://brooksrehab.org/" target="_blank">Brooks Rehabilitation</a> recently announced that the MagTrack study, a collaborative research endeavor with the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ece.gatech.edu/" target="_blank">Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering</a>, has been successfully completed. Feedback from the Brooks clinical team and its patients has allowed Georgia Tech engineers to transform their early research prototype into a user-ready version that was tested by more than 17 power wheelchair users living with tetraplegia — a form of paralysis caused by spinal cord injury that affects the arms, hands, trunk, legs, and pelvic organs.The collaboration between the Brooks and Georgia Tech teams has created a path to a first-of-its-kind, innovative application for individuals living with disabilities. The teams — comprised of physicians, clinical therapists, and engineers — brought together multidisciplinary expertise in advanced science, technology, and clinical rehabilitation.“We met with the Georgia Tech team years ago, when we first heard of the research breakthroughs they were achieving for wheelchair users. Brooks is constantly looking for technology that is useful for our patient population living with spinal cord injuries and mobility impairments. To see where the MagTrack project has advanced even just since the early stages of this study is incredible,” said Geneva Tonuzi, medical director of the spinal cord injury program, the spinal cord injury and related disorders day treatment program, and Cyberdyne HAL Therapy at Brooks Rehabilitation.As a result of this engineering-clinical collaboration,&nbsp;<a href="https://magtrack.ece.gatech.edu/" target="_blank">MagTrack</a> was created as a cutting-edge assistive technology that enables power wheelchair users to control their connected devices (e.g., smartphone, computer) and drive their power wheelchairs using an alternative, multimodal controller. In addition, the assistive device is designed to be wearable, wireless, and adaptable to the user’s specific condition.The MagTrack study is earning the praise of patients and scientists alike and has been&nbsp;<a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9540352" target="_blank">published</a> in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.embs.org/tbme/" target="_blank">IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering</a>. From the beginning, the MagTrack studies have tested the performance of the Head-Tongue Controller (HTC), an earlier version of the MagTrack technology, on its ability to perform complex human-machine interactions that will enhance users’ quality of life. The MagTrack’s HTC allows the user to perform a variety of complex tasks in a single controller through the use of tongue and head movements, which are detected by eyewear and a tiny tracer that is temporarily glued onto the tongue using Glustitch’s&nbsp;<a href="https://periacryl.com/" target="_blank">PeryAcryl</a> bio-compatible adhesive. Target-specific commands are generated from these motions using advanced data processing and machine learning models. This combination of input modalities allows the user to perform a variety of daily functions with customizable control, from performing complex computer tasks (e.g., mouse navigation, scrolling, drag-and-drop) to completing advanced driving maneuvers when connected to a power wheelchair.In the latest study, researchers connected the MagTrack technology to a single power wheelchair donated by Quantum Rehab, and recruited 17 patient volunteers from Brooks Rehabilitation to test the functionality and usability of the device by completing a set of both simple and advanced driving tasks. Results showed that new users of MagTrack can complete these tasks as fast, and sometimes even faster, with the MagTrack’s HTC rather than their personal, alternative controller. Since the study session lasted less than 3 hours — and in a power wheelchair that wasn’t their own — it is anticipated that participants would be more proficient, and thus perform better with MagTrack, if they were given more time to familiarize themselves with its multimodal capabilities and using their own power wheelchair."Working with all of the participants has been very rewarding,” said Jesse Milliken, speech-language pathologist in the spinal cord injury program at&nbsp;<a href="https://brooksrehab.org/" target="_blank">Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital</a>. “Each patient who came in was someone who has been directly affected by a spinal cord injury and who can truly benefit from this technology. It was amazing to see how their faces lit up when they saw they were able to control their wheelchair with such ease and comfort. They all said they can see this improving their day-to-day lives if it were available to them. It's been such an honor to be a part of this process and see the work and thought process behind such advanced technology." Patients from the&nbsp;<a href="https://brooksrehab.org/" target="_blank">Brooks</a> spinal cord injury program who have participated in phase three of the study call the advancement “exciting” and a “great system that can be used for so many things.” After experiencing the technology themselves, they believe it will “touch the lives of those who are able to use it.”To date, the head array and sip-and-puff are the most common alternative controllers recommended by physical therapists to individuals living with tetraplegia, while specialized switches and joystick technology are available for those with mobility in their upper extremities. These technologies were developed many decades ago for the basic need of controlling a power wheelchair. Since then, a lack of innovation in this field has hindered these assistive technologies from adapting to today’s technology. Furthermore, they are affixed to the wheelchair, which becomes inaccessible once the user is transferred to a bed, a couch, or any location away from the wheelchair. Therefore, there is a growing need for this population to have access to new, alternative controllers that will enable them to be active members of an interconnected digital world.“The trajectory of the MagTrack study shows an unprecedented possibility for the advancement of independent function as well as mobility for electric wheelchair users. Our team and partners are energized and motivated by the recent patient trials to continue to push this technology and its capabilities as far as possible. This technology can significantly improve people’s lives. We will continue to work to see these advances in assistive technology come to life,” said Georgia Tech’s Omer T. Inan, director of the Inan Research Lab, Linda J. and Mark C. Smith Chair in Bioscience and Bioengineering, associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and adjunct associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering.“MagTrack is an innovative assistive technology aimed for those living with physical paralysis to have access to more complex human-machine interactions, which will facilitate the control of more devices in their everyday life that they cannot easily use otherwise,” said Nordine Sebkhi, postdoctoral researcher at the Inan Research Lab in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The development of our wearable alternative controller eliminates the need for having multiple assistive technologies, replacing them with a single multimodal and integrated system.” Sebkhi is the co-creator of MagTrack and the technical lead in the development of this assistive technology.As a result of these studies,&nbsp;<a href="https://magtrack.ece.gatech.edu/" target="_blank">MagTrack</a> has been refined to offer a fully integrated, all-in-one experience so that a user can seamlessly switch between driving their wheelchair and controlling connected devices in their surroundings (e.g., smartphone, computer, automated door opener, smart TV). The system can be used anywhere since it is wearable, and its built-in wireless connectivity facilitates portability.The team at Georgia Tech is already working on a new version of&nbsp;<a href="https://magtrack.ece.gatech.edu/" target="_blank">MagTrack</a> that is not only more inconspicuous, but also includes detection of facial gestures that significantly augments its control capabilities. Thanks to a grant from the&nbsp;<a href="https://gra.org/" target="_blank">Georgia Research Alliance</a>, this new version of MagTrack will be tested in a focus group at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.shepherd.org/" target="_blank">Shepherd Center</a> and in simulated testing in a home-like environment. In the coming year, the team plans to make MagTrack available to early adopters for at-home validation testing to further improve the technology before pursuing commercialization.This successful study is only a start since, at its core, MagTrack is a new type of body motion tracking. The Georgia Tech team is working on various designs of MagTrack to be used as a wearable articulograph for motor speech disorders, as a hand and joint tracking system for physical rehabilitation, and even as a finger tracking for VR/AR applications. The MagTrack team will be partnering with the&nbsp;<a href="https://gcmiatl.com/" target="_blank">Global Center for Medical Innovation</a> to assist in regulatory strategy and project planning to transition the technology from the lab to the market.

A squint is an example of a facial gesture that MagTrack can detect and issue a discrete command to control a connected device.

Clinical work begins with MagTrack, a cutting-edge assistive technology that enables power wheelchair users to control their connected devices and drive their power wheelchairs using an alternative, multimodal controller.

MagTrack Technology Opens Doors for Independent Operation of Smartphones, Computers, and Other Devices for Wheelchair Users

The images made headlines around the world in late 2018. David Mzee, who had been left paralyzed by a partial spinal cord injury suffered in a sports accident, got up from his wheelchair and began to walk with the help of a walker. This was the first proof that Courtine and Bloch’s system – which uses electrical stimulation to reactivate spinal neurons – could work effectively in patients.<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4wUADfnCMdc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" style="width: 767px; height: 437px;"></iframe>Fast forward three years, and a new milestone has just been reached. The research team led by both Courtine, a professor at EPFL, and Bloch, a professor and neurosurgeon at CHUV, has enhanced their system with more sophisticated implants controlled by artificial-intelligence software. These implants can stimulate the region of the spinal cord that activates the trunk and leg muscles. Thanks to this new technology, three patients with complete spinal cord injury were able to walk again outside the lab. “Our stimulation algorithms are still based on imitating nature,” says Courtine. “And our new, soft implanted leads are designed to be placed underneath the vertebrae, directly on the spinal cord. They can modulate the neurons regulating specific muscle groups. By controlling these implants, we can activate the spinal cord like the brain would do naturally to have the patient stand, walk, swim or ride a bike, for example.”<h2>Activating motor sequences at the push of a button</h2>On a cold, snowy day last December, Michel Roccati – an Italian man who became paralyzed after a motorcycle accident four years earlier – braved the icy wind to try out the system outdoors, in central Lausanne. He had recently undergone the surgical procedure in which Bloch placed the new, implanted lead on his spinal cord. Scientists from the Courtine and Bloch’s .NeuroRestore research center were with him, helping to prepare the demonstration. They attached two small remote controls to Michel’s walker and connected them wirelessly to a tablet that forwards the signals to a pacemaker in Michel’s abdomen. The pacemaker in turn relays the signals to the implanted spinal lead that stimulates specific neurons, causing Michel to move. When he was ready, Michel grasped the walker and set off. He pressed the button on the right side of the walker with the firm intention of taking a step forward with his left leg. His left foot rose like magic and fell to the ground a few centimeters ahead. He then did the same thing with the button on his left side, and his right foot moved forward. He was walking! “The first few steps were incredible – a dream come true!” he says. “I’ve been through some pretty intense training in the past few months, and I’ve set myself a series of goals. For instance, I can now go up and down stairs, and I hope to be able to walk one kilometer by this spring.”<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1644544468002-ezgif-5-e5d9eb5e93.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Michel Roccati stands up and walks in Lausanne. © EPFL / Alain Herzog 2021&nbsp;Two other patients have also successfully tested the new system, which is described in an <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01663-5" rel="noopener" target="_blank">article appearing today in Nature Medicine</a>. “Our breakthrough here is the longer, wider implanted leads with electrodes arranged in a way that corresponds exactly to the spinal nerve roots,” says Bloch. “That gives us precise control over the neurons regulating specific muscles.” Ultimately, it allows for greater selectivity and accuracy in controlling the motor sequences for a given activity.<h2>One day is all it takes</h2>Extensive training is obviously necessary for patients to get comfortable using the device. But the pace and scope of rehabilitation is amazing. “All three patients were able to stand, walk, pedal, swim and control their torso movements in just one day, after their implants were activated!” says Courtine. “That’s thanks to the specific stimulation programs we wrote for each type of activity. Patients can select the desired activity on the tablet, and the corresponding protocols are relayed to the pacemaker in the abdomen.”<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1644544498412-ezgif-5-2264b1550c.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Thanks to his implant, Michel Roccati can now stand to enjoy a drink. © EPFL / Alain Herzog 2021&nbsp;While the progress achievable in a single day is astonishing, the gains after several months are even more impressive. The three patients followed a training regimen based on the stimulation programs and were able to regain muscle mass, move around more independently, and take part in social activities like having a drink standing at a bar. What’s more, because the technology is miniaturized, the patients can perform their training exercises outdoors and not only inside a lab.“This study further demonstrates the benefits of our approach,” says Courtine. “We’re now working with <a href="http://onwd.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">ONWARD Medical</a>, which recently listed on Euronext, to turn our discoveries into genuine treatments that can improve the lives of thousands of people around the world.”<hr>ReferencesActivity-dependent spinal cord neuromodulation rapidly restores trunk and leg motor functions after complete paralysis, Nature Medicine, February 7 2022, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-021-01663-5

 Michel Roccati stands up and walks in Lausanne. © EPFL / Alain Herzog 2021

A system developed by Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch now enables patients with a complete spinal cord injury to stand, walk and even perform recreational activities like swimming, cycling and canoeing. 

New implant offers promise for the paralyzed

In this episode, we talk about how a new wearable device can combat fatigue and how monitoring BAC via sweat can be a new use case for wearables. As always, you can find these and other interesting &amp; impactful engineering articles on Wevolver.com.<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/c866dfbc-964d-4828-b95e-edf2ff87e8da?dark=false" class="fr-draggable"></iframe>&nbsp;<hr>This podcast is sponsored by <a href="https://www2.mouser.com/" id="isPasted" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mouser Electronics</a>.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1644321153399-Mouser-sponsor-1-a.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><hr><h3 id="isPasted">EPISODE NOTES</h3>(3:00) - <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/energizing-the-brain-combating-worker-fatigue-using-wearable-neurotechnology/" target="_blank">Energizing The Brain🧠⚡️</a>(14:35) - <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/can-wearable-technology-predict-the-negative-consequences-of-drinking/" target="_blank">Wearables For Alcohol Consumption⌚️🍻</a>Episode 56 was brought to you by Mouser Electronics, Farbod &amp; Daniel’s favorite electronics distributor. Click <a href="https://www.mouser.com/applications/article-iot-wearable-devices/" target="_blank">here&nbsp;</a>to read the article giving an overview of how wearable electronics are transitioning away from being peripheral devices.<hr>About the podcast:Every day, some of the most innovative universities, companies, and individual technology developers share their knowledge on Wevolver. To ensure we can also provide this knowledge for the growing group of podcast listeners, we started a collaboration with two young engineers, Daniel Scott Mitchell &amp; Farbod Moghaddam who discuss the most interesting content in this podcast series.&nbsp;To learn more about this show, please visit the <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" target="_blank">shows page</a>. By following the page, you will get automatic updates by email when a new show is published.Be sure to give us a follow and review on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-next-byte/id1548255861?l=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple</a> podcasts, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6lPPsRtegnivsRUEsQ09R7?si=IPMiah7xT_apJtPjqvXMlA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, and most of your favorite podcast platforms!

Out of the counterbalance of anodal stimulation, sham stimulation and no stimulation, the team found that by exciting neuronal activity through anodal stimulation, task performance under fatigue improved, while it decreased under the other two sessions. | Image: Getty Images

In this episode, we talk about how a new wearable device can combat fatigue and how monitoring BAC via sweat can be a new use case for wearables. 

Podcast: Wearables For Combating Fatigue & Monitoring Alcohol Consumption

In this episode, we talk about a blind cane from Stanford University that borrows self-driving tech to increase the mobility of visually-impaired people by 20% as well as an effort from Texas A&amp;M to develop enhanced touchscreens which will enable users to feel textures on their smart devices. As always, you can find these and other interesting &amp; impactful engineering articles on Wevolver.com.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/56dfea3f-88e3-4e7c-b408-230412dd1710?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> <hr>This podcast is sponsored by <a href="https://www2.mouser.com/" id="isPasted" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mouser Electronics</a>.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjM1MjI0MzQ1NzM3LU1vdXNlci1zcG9uc29yLTEtYS5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><hr><h3 id="isPasted">PISODE NOTES</h3>(1:03) - Self-navigating Smart Cane &nbsp;(15:16) - Enhanced Touchscreens &nbsp;Episode 41 was brought to you by Mouser Electronics, Farbod &amp; Daniel’s favorite electronics distributor. Click <a href="https://www.mouser.com/createthefuture/" target="_blank">here</a> to learn more about Mouser's Create the Future Design Contest.<hr>About the podcast:Every day, some of the most innovative universities, companies, and individual technology developers share their knowledge on Wevolver. To ensure we can also provide this knowledge for the growing group of podcast listeners, we started a collaboration with two young engineers, Daniel Scott Mitchell &amp; Farbod Moghaddam who discuss the most interesting content in this podcast series.&nbsp;To learn more about this show, please visit the <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" target="_blank">shows page</a>. By following the page, you will get automatic updates by email when a new show is published.Be sure to give us a follow and review on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-next-byte/id1548255861?l=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple</a> podcasts, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6lPPsRtegnivsRUEsQ09R7?si=IPMiah7xT_apJtPjqvXMlA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, and most of your favorite podcast platforms!Take a few seconds to leave us a review. It really helps!&nbsp;<a href="https://apple.co/2RIsbZ2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://apple.co/2RIsbZ2</a>if you do it and send us proof, we’ll give you a shoutout on the show.

In this episode, we talk about a blind cane from Stanford University that borrows self-driving tech to increase the mobility of visually-impaired people by 20% as well as an effort from Texas A&M to develop enhanced touchscreens which will enable users to feel textures on their smart devices.

Podcast: The Tesla of Blind Canes

Dougie Mann, one of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.3dhubs.com/education/student-grant/" target="_blank">3D Hubs Student Grant 2019</a> finalists, wanted to make it easier for people with disabilities to use smartphones. His end product is a 3D printed keyboard with just 5 buttons instead of 50. As the keyboard is built into a phone case, users can type without having to look, with only one hand, and without having to remove their phone from their pocket.<h2>Making the the smartphone smart - for everyone</h2>People who are visually impaired struggle to see the buttons on a flat touchscreen. Dougie's keyboard facilitates the use of an ordinary smart phone, without having to rely on the more stigmatizing solutions like voice-to-text devices.Amputees are another use case where typing on a full keyboard and mouse can be time consuming, whereas a single handed gestural keyboard can streamline the human-computer interaction.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1594221148905-ezgif-5-1b5d38df9980.gif" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Designed with one-handed individuals in mind, such as amputees, stroke victims or hemiplegics, TypeCase simplifies a traditional keyboard down to a beautifully intuitive and effortless interaction. By integrating the board into a phone case, it reintroduces tactility back into touchscreen smartphones, offering the visually impaired a discrete alternative to the more stigmatizing voice-to-text methods.The keyboard works in &nbsp;a similar way to Braille, by showing the user how to press the right buttons when holding the phone. For the visually impaired, TypeCase uses haptic feedback that allows users not only to send messages, but to receive them as well. Reversing the interaction, you can ‘feel’ text using the same code with small vibrations in each of your fingers.This system could revolutionize communication for the blind. Simultaneously, it facilitates a whole new way for everyone to use a smartphone, and all without the need for audio.<img class="fr-fic fr-dib" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiAid2V2b2x2ZXItcHJvamVjdC1pbWFnZXMiLCAia2V5IjogImZyb2FsYS8xNTk0MDQ4MDcxMjIyLWFydGljbGUtYS0zZC1wcmludGVkLWtleWJvYXJkLWZvci10aGUtYmxpbmQtaW1hZ2UtMy5qcGciLCAiZWRpdHMiOiB7InJlc2l6ZSI6IHsid2lkdGgiOiA5NTAsICJmaXQiOiAiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 788px;">Dougie worked with a free and experimental process, starting with broader thematic questions about disability design. He studied the balance of form and function, the role of fashion and aesthetics in accessibility products, and tried a lot of different technologies before he arrived at the solution that became TypeCase.&nbsp;<img class="fr-fic fr-dib" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiAid2V2b2x2ZXItcHJvamVjdC1pbWFnZXMiLCAia2V5IjogImZyb2FsYS8xNTk0MDQ4MDkyNDM1LWFydGljbGUtYS0zZC1wcmludGVkLWtleWJvYXJkLWZvci10aGUtYmxpbmQtaW1hZ2UtNC5qcGciLCAiZWRpdHMiOiB7InJlc2l6ZSI6IHsid2lkdGgiOiA5NTAsICJmaXQiOiAiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 788px;">Starting with rapid prototyping of the electronics and designs, the first user tests were conducted on more functional prototypes in <a href="https://www.3dhubs.com/3d-printing/plastic/resin/" target="_blank">3D printed resin</a>. &nbsp;&nbsp;<img class="fr-fic fr-dib" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiAid2V2b2x2ZXItcHJvamVjdC1pbWFnZXMiLCAia2V5IjogImZyb2FsYS8xNTk0MDQ4MTQ4ODI0LWFydGljbGUtYS0zZC1wcmludGVkLWtleWJvYXJkLWZvci10aGUtYmxpbmQtaW1hZ2UtNi5qcGciLCAiZWRpdHMiOiB7InJlc2l6ZSI6IHsid2lkdGgiOiA5NTAsICJmaXQiOiAiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 788px;">Dougie spent a lot of time really pinning down the problems the intended users face to find a practical and real-world solution that would provide a genuine benefit. By re-framing the product as an inclusive design, he’ll be able to pitch the idea to a broader audience and also get the more traditional users excited in the concept and thereby be able to make it available to more users whose life TypeCase can have a real impact on.&nbsp;<img class="fr-fic fr-dib" src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiAid2V2b2x2ZXItcHJvamVjdC1pbWFnZXMiLCAia2V5IjogImZyb2FsYS8xNTk0MDQ4MTY5NjQ5LWFydGljbGUtYS0zZC1wcmludGVkLWtleWJvYXJkLWZvci10aGUtYmxpbmQtaW1hZ2UtNy5qcGciLCAiZWRpdHMiOiB7InJlc2l6ZSI6IHsid2lkdGgiOiA5NTAsICJmaXQiOiAiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 788px;"><h2>Dougie Mann</h2>The creator and designer behind TypeCase,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dougiemann.co.uk/" target="_blank">Dougie Mann</a>, is a recent university graduate with master's degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Product Design from Imperial College London and The Royal College of Art. After graduating, Dougie worked at NASA in their Human Factors Division, and then with startups and research labs around the world working on a broad spectrum of Design and Engineering projects. At the moment, Dougie is working as a Biomedical Design. Dougie comments:"The product still needs a lot of work and development on the hardware and design. Not to mention, there is a whole untouched software side to the project which could really make a huge difference to the usability and functionality. Ultimately, I would love to get it to the point where it makes someone's life easier - then I'll be happy."

Dougie Mann wanted to make it easier for people with disabilities to use smartphones. His end product is a 3D printed keyboard with just 5 buttons instead of 50.

A 3D printed keyboard for the blind

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a wearable, wireless sensor that can monitor a person&rsquo;s skin hydration for use in applications that need to detect dehydration before it poses a health problem. The device is lightweight, flexible and stretchable and has already been incorporated into prototype devices that can be worn on the wrist or as a chest patch.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1578350871924-Zhu-hydration-sensors-SIDEBAR-400.jpg">The hydration sensors consist of two electrodes made of an elastic polymer composite that contains conductive silver nanowires.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s difficult to measure a person&rsquo;s hydration quantitatively, which is relevant for everyone from military personnel to athletes to firefighters, who are at risk of health problems related to heat stress when training or in the field,&rdquo; says John Muth, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC&nbsp;State and co-corresponding author of a paper describing the work.&ldquo;We have developed technology that allows us to track an individual&rsquo;s skin hydration in real time,&rdquo; says Yong Zhu, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC&nbsp;State and co-corresponding author of the paper. &ldquo;Our sensor could be used to protect the health of people working in hot conditions, improve athletic performance and safety, and to track hydration in older adults or in medical patients suffering from various conditions. It can even be used to tell how effective skin moisturizers are for cosmetics.&rdquo;The sensor consists of two electrodes made of an elastic polymer composite that contains conductive silver nanowires. These electrodes monitor the electrical properties of the skin. Because the skin&rsquo;s electric properties change in a predictable way based on an individual&rsquo;s hydration, the readings from the electrodes can tell how hydrated the skin is.In lab testing using custom-made artificial skins with a broad range of hydration levels, the researchers found that the performance of the wearable sensor was not affected by ambient humidity. And the wearable sensors were just as accurate as a large, expensive, commercially available hydration monitor that operates on similar principles, but utilizes rigid wand-like probes.The researchers also incorporated the sensors into two different wearable systems: a wristwatch and an adhesive patch that can be worn on the chest. Both the watch and the patch wirelessly transmit sensor data to a program that can run on a laptop, tablet or smartphone. This means the data can be monitored by the user or by a designated third party &ndash; such as a doctor in a hospital setting, or an officer in a military setting.What&rsquo;s more, the sensor is relatively inexpensive.&ldquo;The commercially available monitor we tested our system against costs more than $8,000,&rdquo; says Shanshan Yao, a Ph.D. student at NC&nbsp;State and lead author of the paper. &ldquo;Our sensor costs about one dollar, and the overall manufacturing cost of the wearable systems we developed would be no more than a common wearable device, such as a Fitbit.&rdquo;The paper, &ldquo;<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adhm.201601159/abstract" target="_blank">A Wearable Hydration Monitor with Conformal Nanowire Electrodes</a>,&rdquo; is published in the journal&nbsp;Advanced Healthcare Materials. The paper was co-authored by Amanda Myers and Abhishek Malhotra, Ph.D. students at NC State; Feiyan Lin, a former graduate student at NC State; and Alper Bozkurt, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State.

The new sensor, which tracks an individual’s skin hydration in real time, can be incorporated into a wearable patch. Photo credit: Shanshan Yao.

Researchers have developed a wearable, wireless sensor that can monitor a person’s skin hydration for use in applications that need to detect dehydration before it poses a health problem.

Researchers Develop Wearable, Low-Cost Sensor to Measure Skin Hydration

The human heart beats approximately 35 million times every year, pumping blood via four different heart valves. Unfortunately, &nbsp;in more four million people each year, these delicate tissues malfunction due to birth defects, age-related deteriorations, and infections causing cardiac valve disease.Today, clinicians use either artificial prostheses or fixed animal and cadaver-sourced tissues to replace defective valves. While these prostheses can restore the function of the heart for a while, they are associated with adverse comorbidity and wear down and need to be replaced during invasive and expensive surgeries. Moreover, in children, implanted heart valve prostheses need to be replaced even more often as they cannot grow with the child.A team lead by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.seas.harvard.edu/directory/kkparker" target="_blank">Kevin Kit Parker</a>, Tarr Family Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics at the<a href="http://www.seas.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences&nbsp;</a>(SEAS), recently developed a nanofiber fabrication technique to rapidly manufacture heart valves with regenerative and growth potential.Parker is also a Core Faculty member of&nbsp;<a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.</a>In a paper published in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961217302685" target="_blank">Biomaterials</a>, first author Andrew Capulli and colleagues fabricated a valve-shaped nanofiber network that mimics the mechanical and chemical properties of the native valve extracellular matrix (ECM). The team used the Parker lab&rsquo;s proprietary rotary jet spinning technology &ndash; in which a rotating nozzle extrudes an ECM solution into nanofibers that wrap themselves around heart valve-shaped mandrels.&ldquo;Our setup is like a very fast cotton candy machine that can spin a range of synthetic and natural occurring materials,&rdquo; said Parker. &ldquo;In this study, we used a combination of synthetic polymers and ECM proteins to fabricate biocompatible JetValves that are hemodynamically competent upon implantation and support cell migration and re-population&nbsp;in vitro. Importantly, we can make human-sized JetValves in minutes &ndash; much faster than possible for other regenerative prostheses.&rdquo;To further develop and test the clinical potential of JetValves, Parker&rsquo;s team partnered with the translational team of Simon P. Hoerstrup, at the University of Zurich. As a leader in regenerative heart prostheses, Hoerstrup and his team in Zurich previously developed regenerative, tissue-engineered heart valves to replace mechanical and fixed-tissue heart valves. In Hoerstrup&rsquo;s approach, human cells directly deposit a regenerative layer of complex ECM on biodegradable scaffolds shaped as heart valves and vessels. The living cells are then eliminated from the scaffolds resulting in an &ldquo;off-the-shelf&rdquo; human matrix-based prostheses ready for implantation.In the paper, the cross-disciplinary team successfully implanted JetValves in sheep using a minimally invasive technique and demonstrated that the valves functioned properly in the circulation and regenerated new tissue.&ldquo;In our previous studies, the cell-derived ECM-coated scaffolds could recruit cells from the receiving animal&rsquo;s heart and support cell proliferation, matrix remodeling, tissue regeneration, and even animal growth. While these valves are safe and effective, their manufacturing remains complex and expensive as human cells must be cultured for a long time under heavily regulated conditions. The JetValve&rsquo;s much faster manufacturing process can be a game-changer in this respect. If we can replicate these results in humans, this technology could have invaluable benefits in minimizing the number of pediatric re-operations,&rdquo; said Hoerstrup.

In rotary jet spinning technology, a rotating nozzle extrudes a solution of extracellular matrix (ECM) into nanofibers that wrap themselves around heart valve-shaped mandrels. By using a series of mandrels with different sizes, the manufacturing process becomes fully scalable and is able to provide JetValves for all age groups and heart sizes. (Photo courtesy of Wyss Institute at Harvard University)

Harvard and the University of Zurich partner to create a next-generation heart valve that accurately functions upon implantation and regenerates into long-lasting heart-like tissue

Engineering heart valves for the many

What if running the 26.2 miles of a marathon only felt like running 24.9 miles, or if you could improve your average running pace from 9:14 minutes/mile to 8:49 minutes/mile without weeks of training? Researchers at the<a href="http://seas.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences&nbsp;</a>(SEAS) and the&nbsp;<a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University</a> have demonstrated that a tethered soft exosuit can reduce the metabolic cost of running on a treadmill by 5.4 percent compared to not wearing the exosuit, bringing those dreams of high performance closer to reality.&quot;Homo sapiens has evolved to become very good at distance running, but our results show that further improvements to this already extremely efficient system are possible,&rdquo; said author Philippe Malcolm, former postdoctoral research fellow at SEAS and the Wyss Institute, and now Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where he continues to collaborate on this work.The study appears today in&nbsp;<a href="http://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/2/6/eaan6708" target="_blank">Science Robotics</a>.Running is a naturally more costly form of movement than walking, so any attempt to reduce its strain on the body must impose a minimal additional burden. The soft exosuit technology developed in the lab of <a href="https://www.seas.harvard.edu/directory/walsh" target="_blank">Conor Walsh</a>, John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SEAS and Wyss Core Faculty member, represents an ideal platform for assisted running, as its textile-based design is lightweight and moves with the body.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1577273403478-Exosuit-Running.jpg" style="width: 1114px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">A team of scientists in Walsh&rsquo;s lab led by postdoctoral fellow Giuk Lee performed the study with an exosuit that incorporated flexible wires connecting apparel anchored to the back of the thigh and waist belt to an external actuation unit. As subjects ran on a treadmill wearing the exosuit, the actuation unit pulled on the wires, which acted as a second pair of hip extensor muscles applying force to the legs with each stride. The metabolic cost was measured by analyzing the subjects&rsquo; oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production while running.The team tested two different &ldquo;assistance profiles,&rdquo; or patterns of wire-pulling. One was based on human biology that applied force starting at the point of maximum hip extension observed in normal running. The other was based on a simulation of exoskeleton-assisted running from<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0163417#abstract0" target="_blank">&nbsp;a group at Stanford University</a>, which applied force slightly later in the running stride. The Stanford study suggested that the optimal point to provide assistive force might not be the same as the biological norm. Confirming this suspicion, Lee and colleagues found that the simulation-based profile outperformed the biology-based profile in reducing metabolic cost by about a factor of two.As the authors note in the paper, &ldquo;Our finding supports a paradigm shift toward the concept that mimicking our current understanding of biology is not necessarily always optimal.&rdquo;To clarify why applying force later in running stride improved metabolic expenditure so dramatically, the team analyzed what was happening to the subjects&rsquo; other joints when their hip joints were being assisted by the actuating wires. They found that the simulation-based profile also affected knee extension and the forces between the foot and the ground, while the biology-based profile did not.&ldquo;The biological profile only takes into account the amount of torque in the hip joint, but the human body is not a series of independently acting parts - it&rsquo;s full of muscles that act on multiple joints to coordinate movement,&rdquo; said Lee. &ldquo;Applying force to the hip affects the whole body system, and we need to consider that in order to give the best assistance.&rdquo;While the study&rsquo;s results suggest that the increased biomechanical involvement of the simulation-based assistance profile is responsible for the reduction in metabolic cost, further biomechanical analyses are needed to confirm its findings.The team hopes to continue this research to reduce the metabolic cost of running even more.&ldquo;We only tested two actuation profiles in this study, so it will be interesting to see how much more the cost of running can be reduced with further optimization of the system,&rdquo; said Malcolm.&ldquo;Our goal is to develop a portable system with a high power-to-weight ratio so that the benefit of using the suit greatly offsets the cost of wearing it. We believe this technology could augment the performance of recreational athletes and/or help with recovery after injury,&rdquo; said Lee.The days of a battery-powered exosuit for high-performance runners are still beyond the horizon, as the actuator unit (including motors, electronics, and power supply) in this study was off-board, but the authors say technology is moving toward making an untethered assistive exosuit possible in the near future.&ldquo;This study is a great example of how our team can quickly leverage its experience and expertise in wearable technology and biomechanics to demonstrate how human performance can be improved in new application areas,&rdquo; said Walsh.

Researchers have demonstrated a tethered soft exosuit that can reduce the metabolic cost of running on a treadmill by 5.4 percent compared to not wearing the exosuit (Image courtesy of The Wyss Institute)

New robotic exosuit could push the limits of human performance and lead to new wearable technologies for athletes and consumers

Tethered soft exosuit reduces the metabolic cost of running

<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1570181911758-inputtest2.jpeg" style="width: 461px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Study participants tapped Morse Code into Google Glass after four hours&nbsp;It&rsquo;s not exactly beating something into someone&rsquo;s head. More like tapping it into the side.Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a system that teaches people Morse code within four hours using a series of vibrations felt near the ear. Participants wearing Google Glass learned it without paying attention to the signals &mdash;they played games while feeling the taps and hearing the corresponding letters. After those few hours, they were 94 percent accurate keying a sentence that included every letter of the alphabet and 98 percent accurate writing codes for every letter.This is the latest chapter of passive haptic learning (PHL) studies at Georgia Tech. The same method &mdash; using vibrations while participants aren&rsquo;t paying attention &mdash;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.news.gatech.edu/2014/06/23/wearable-computing-gloves-can-teach-braille-even-if-you%E2%80%99re-not-paying-attention" target="_blank">has taught people braille</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.news.gatech.edu/2008/11/07/reinventing-way-people-learn-play-piano" target="_blank">how to play the piano</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.news.gatech.edu/hg/item/140221" target="_blank">improved hand sensation for those with partial spinal cord injury.</a>The PHL projects are all led by Georgia Tech Professor Thad Starner and his Ph.D. student Caitlyn Seim. The team decided to use Glass for this study because it has both a built-in speaker and tapper (Glass&rsquo;s bone-conduction transducer).In the study, participants played a game while feeling vibration taps between their temple and ear. The taps represented the dots and dashes of Morse code and passively &ldquo;taught&rdquo; users through their tactile senses &mdash; even while they were distracted by the game.&nbsp;The taps were created when researchers sent a very low-frequency signal to Glass&rsquo;s speaker system. At less than 15 Hz, the signal was below hearing range but, because it was played very slowly, the sound was felt as a vibration.&nbsp;Half of the participants in the study felt the vibration taps and heads a voice prompt for each corresponding letter. The other half &mdash; the control group &mdash; felt no taps to help them learn.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1570181952817-tap2.jpeg" style="width: 630px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The findings demonstrate silent, eyes-free text entry on a mobile device without a keyboard (participants touched on Glass&#39;s touchpad to enter Morse code during quizzes). &nbsp;Many mobile or wearable devices cannot accommodate a full keyboard, so it is a challenge to enable text entry on these devices. This research demonstrates a successful system and a rapid, low-effort way to learn it. Participants were tested throughout the study on their knowledge of Morse code and their ability to type it. &nbsp;After less than four hours of feeling every letter, everyone was challenged to type the alphabet in Morse code in a final test.The control group was accurate only half the time. &nbsp;Those who felt the passive cues were nearly perfect.The research was recently presented in Germany at the 20th International Symposium on Wearable Computers.&ldquo;Does this new study mean that people will rush out to learn Morse code? Probably not,&rdquo; said Starner. &ldquo;It shows that PHL lowers the barrier to learn text-entry methods &mdash; something we need for smartwatches and any text-entry that doesn&rsquo;t require you to look at your device or keyboard.&rdquo;Previous research on PHL used custom hardware to provide the tactile stimuli, but here researchers use an existing wearable device.&nbsp;&ldquo;This research also shows that other common devices with an actuator could be used for passive haptic learning,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Your smartwatch, Bluetooth headset, fitness tracker or phone.&rdquo;&ldquo;In our Braille and piano PHL studies, people felt vibrations on their fingers, then used their fingers for the task,&rdquo; said Seim. &ldquo;This study was different and surprising. People were tapped on their heads, but the skill they learned was using their finger.&rdquo;Seim&rsquo;s next study will go a step further, investigating whether PHL can teach people how to type on the trusted QWERTY keyboard. That would mean several letters assigned to the same finger, rather than using only one finger like Morse code.

New study demonstrates silent, eyes-free text entry

Learning Morse Code without Trying

<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1569983765878-HeartSleeveInVirtoFinal_0.gif" style="width: 633px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">In vitro demonstration of the pumping of the soft robotic sleeve (Video courtesy of Ellen Roche/Harvard University)&nbsp;Harvard University and Boston Children&rsquo;s Hospital researchers have developed a customizable soft robot that fits around a heart and helps it beat, potentially opening new treatment options for people suffering from heart failure.The soft robotic sleeve twists and compresses in synch with a beating heart, augmenting cardiovascular functions weakened by heart failure. Unlike currently available devices that assist heart function, Harvard&rsquo;s soft robotic sleeve does not directly contact blood. This reduces the risk of clotting and eliminates the need for a patient to take potentially dangerous blood thinner medications. The device may one day be able to bridge a patient to transplant or to aid in cardiac rehabilitation and recovery.&ldquo;This research demonstrates that the growing field of soft robotics can be applied to clinical needs and potentially reduce the burden of heart disease and improve the quality of life for patients,&rdquo; said Ellen T. Roche, the paper&rsquo;s first author and former PhD student at the&nbsp;<a href="http://seas.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences</a> (SEAS) and&nbsp;<a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">The Wyss Institute&nbsp;</a><a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">of</a><a href="http://wyss.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University</a>. &nbsp;Roche is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National University of Ireland Galway.The research, published in&nbsp;<a href="http://stm.sciencemag.org/" target="_blank">Science Translational Medicine</a>, was a collaboration between SEAS, the Wyss Institute and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.childrenshospital.org/" target="_blank">Boston Children&rsquo;s Hospital</a>.&ldquo;This work represents an exciting proof of concept result for this soft robot, demonstrating that it can safely interact with soft tissue and lead to improvements in cardiac function. We envision many other future applications where such devices can delivery&nbsp;<a href="https://wyss.harvard.edu/disruptive-mechanotherapeutics-from-drugs-to-wearables-2/" target="_blank">mechanotherapy</a> both inside and outside of the body,&rdquo; said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.seas.harvard.edu/directory/walsh" target="_blank">Conor Walsh</a>, senior author of the paper and the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SEAS and Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute.Heart failure affects 41 million people worldwide. Today, some of the options to treat it are mechanical pumps called&nbsp;<a name="OLE_LINK2" id="OLE_LINK2" target="_blank"></a><a id="OLE_LINK1" name="OLE_LINK1" target="_blank">ventricular assist devices&nbsp;</a>(VADs), which pump blood from the ventricles into the aorta, and heart transplant. While VADs are continuously improving, patients are still at high risk for blood clots and stroke.To create an entirely new device that doesn&rsquo;t come into contact with blood, Harvard researchers took inspiration from the heart itself. The thin silicone sleeve uses soft pneumatic actuators placed around the heart to mimic the outer muscle layers of the mammalian heart. &nbsp;The actuators twist and compress the sleeve in a similar motion to the beating heart.The device is tethered to an external pump, which uses air to power the soft actuators.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1569983812883-HeartSleeveFinalGif1.gif" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">In vivo demonstration of cardiac assist in a porcine model of acute heart failure (Video courtesy of Ellen Rouche/Harvard SEAS)The sleeve can be customized for each patient, said Roche. If a patient has more weakness on the left side of the heart, for example, the actuators can be tuned to give more assistance on that side. The pressure of the actuators can also increase or decrease over time, as the patient&rsquo;s condition evolves.The sleeve is attached to the heart using a combination of a suction device, sutures and a gel interface to help with friction between the device and the heart.The SEAS and Wyss engineers worked with surgeons at Boston Children&rsquo;s Hospital to develop the device and determine the best ways to implant the device and test it on animal models.&ldquo;The cardiac field had turned away from idea of developing heart compression instead of blood-pumping VADs due to technological limitations, but now with advancements in soft robotics it&rsquo;s time to turn back,&rdquo; said Frank Pigula, a cardiothoracic surgeon and co-corresponding author on the study, who was formerly clinical director of pediatric cardiac surgery at Boston Children&rsquo;s Hospital and is now a faculty member at University of Louisville and division chief of pediatric cardiac surgery at Norton Children&rsquo;s Hospital. &ldquo;Most people with heart failure do still have some function left; one day the robotic sleeve may help their heart work well enough that their quality of life can be restored.&quot;More research needs to be done before the sleeve can be implanted in humans but the research is an important first step towards an implantable soft robot that can augment organ function.Harvard&rsquo;s<a href="http://otd.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Office of Technology Development&nbsp;</a>has filed a patent application and is actively pursuing commercialization opportunities.&ldquo;This research is really significant at the moment because more and more people are surviving heart attacks and ending up with heart failure,&rdquo; said Roche. &ldquo;Soft robotic devices are ideally suited to interact with soft tissue and give assistance that can help with augmentation of function, and potentially even healing and recovery.&rdquo;

Harvard researchers have developed a customizable soft robot that fits around a heart and helps it beat, potentially opening new treatment options for people suffering from heart failure. The device is tethered to an external pump, which uses air to power the soft actuators

Sleeve attaches directly around the heart

Soft robot helps the heart beat

One key element of the future production landscape is highly flexible Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC). This article describes 3 case studies which illustrate how collaborative robots change the way people will manufacture. KUKA, one of the world&#39;s largest suppliers of industrial robots, has written a free, downloadable white paper called &quot;<a href="http://bit.ly/kuka-whitepaper-US" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shaping future production landscapes</a>.&quot; The white paper describes &#39;megatrends&#39; that impact manufacturing and 3 key factors to designing production infrastructures that can meet the requirements of the future.&nbsp;<hr><h1>Intro</h1><h2>Human-robot collaboration&nbsp;</h2>In human-robot collaboration, the robot assists the human operator. This means: The machine does not replace the human, but complements his capabilities and relieves him of arduous tasks. These can include overhead work, for example, or the lifting of heavy loads. Autonomous, collaborative robots are also used to supply production workstations.In the ideal &#39;factory of the future&#39; there is no separation between automated and manual workstations. Humans and robots collaborate optimally &ndash; without separation and without safety fencing.<h2>Human-robot collaboration: the advantages</h2>HRC-capable robots (often labeled &#39;Collaborative Robots&#39; or &#39;Cobots&#39;) are rendered mobile and capable of performing different tasks flexibly using mobile platforms. They can thus be individually deployed at whatever location and for whatever purpose corresponds to production requirements &ndash; dependent on the required batch size, for example. Furthermore, these types of robots offer maximum flexibility by means of so-called spontaneous automation: They support a user as an assistant in the case of workload peaks and resource bottlenecks in production operations.Human-robot collaboration changes industrial production and manufacturing and can bring a number of advantages over traditional automation or manual labor:<ul><li>Increased flexibility in production</li><li>Relief of employees by performing ergonomically unfavorable work steps that could not previously be automated</li><li>Reduced risk of injuries and infections</li><li>High-quality performance of reproducible processes &ndash; without requiring type-specific or component-relevant investment.</li><li>Increased productivity and improved system complexity thanks to integrated sensors</li></ul> <h1>HRC Case Studies</h1>To give you an idea of the impact of collaborative robots in the workspace we&#39;ve gathered 3 case studies to show you the impact of these robots and the challenges they overcome. <h2>Case Study 1: Lightweight robots supporting operators in adhesive bonding processes.</h2><h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1566292124494-KUKA+LBR+iiwa+Duerr.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 766px;"></h2>All images courtesy KUKASystem and machine builder <a href="https://www.durr.com/en/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">D&uuml;rr</a> uses two sensitive LBR iiwa robots in final assembly. Without a safety fence, they perform key tasks in the application of adhesive beads. This improves quality, saves time and lowers unit costs.<div data-ignore="true">At the company, humans and robots work together in final assembly without the need for physical safeguards. Sensitive lightweight robots are used for the adhesive bonding of GPS antenna covers and tanks in the vehicle body. The solutions improve the quality of the adhesive bonding result, save time and lower unit costs.&nbsp;</div>The LBR iiwa detects any fault that arises when the GPS antenna cover is loadedFor application of adhesive to the GPS antenna cover, the assembly worker places the workpiece into the robot gripper manually. The gripper sucks onto it and moves it to the adhesive nozzle on the application tower. The robot slowly moves the GPS antenna cover upwards to the application nozzle. If it encounters an obstacle, it moves back a little thanks to its collision detection ability and starts the motion over from the beginning. Only after three attempts does it move back into the starting position. Otherwise, the adhesive application process starts and the adhesive bead is applied carefully while the robot executes the path. Finally, back at the starting point, the assembly worker removes the GPS antenna cover and mounts it on the vehicle. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PdAXCNtXabc?&wmode=opaque" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 767px; height: 429px;" frameborder="0"></iframe>Precise adhesive beads thanks to the seventh axis of the LBR iiwaFor the automated process of gluing the tank into place in final assembly, the skilled worker guides the tank to a turntable with the aid of a manipulator. There he cleans it, moves it into the correct position and transfers it directly to the robot for further processing. When the starting point is reached on the stationary tank, the nozzle opens under pressure so that no air bubbles are created. The robot then applies the adhesive bead onto the tank very evenly. Sensors on the application head monitor the accurate height of the bead. Thanks to its seventh rotating axis, the robot glues in a radius of 360 degrees &ndash; without re-orienting or having to interrupt the bead. As soon as the robot has completed its task, the skilled worker fits the tank into the vehicle body at the specified position.<a href="http://www.durr.com/" target="_blank">D&uuml;rr</a> has already sold ten systems in the field of adhesive bonding, and is working on HRC solutions for the robot-based adhesive bonding of small washers and other components. <h2>Case Study 2: Human-robot collaboration during the adjustment of headlights.</h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1566292345359-Fahrassistenzsystemprfstnden_Drr.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">To reduce the strain on the workers, two KUKA LBR iiwa cobots perform the unergonomic task of adjusting fog lights at Ford. Parallel to this, human colleagues can adjust the main headlights.<article data-ignore="true">The initial situationIn the automotive industry, vehicle fog lights have previously been adjusted manually by human operators. While stooped over, the human operator searches for the hard-to-reach opening for the adjusting screws in the bumper area. Once he has found the adjusting screw, he positions the tool on it extremely carefully without damaging the adjustment opening on the bumper.</article><article data-ignore="true">The solutionTo provide relief for the human worker during this ergonomically unfavorable work and simultaneously achieve improved of the adjustment, Ford VOME (Vehicle Operation Manufacturing Engineering), D&uuml;rr Assembly Products and KUKA have jointly developed an innovative alternative concept for the conventional process as part of a feasibility study. The solution called for the use of the KUKA LBR iiwa cobot. The sensitive robot adjusts the fog lights fully automatically. In doing so, humans and robots work on the same vehicle without additional safety equipment.</article><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9HWY-CLR3Co?&wmode=opaque" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 766px; height: 419px;" frameborder="0"></iframe>TeamworkWhile the human operator adjusts the conventional headlights, the cobot adjusts the hard-to-reach fog lights. Two lightweight robots are already in use in four headlight/driver assistance system test stands for the new Ford Focus C519 at the Ford plant in Saarlouis. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The secret of the HRC conceptWith its size and joint torque sensors, the robot detects contact immediately and reduces its level of force and speed instantly. These characteristics make it possible to work with human operators in confined spaces. Furthermore, with its high-performance servo control, the cobot detects contours quickly under force control. In combination with an end effector specially developed by D&uuml;rr (consisting of a camera system and an adjustment screwdriver), the robot positions the adjustment screwdriver according to the hole coordinates acquired by the camera system. The adjusting screw itself is located approximately 80 mm behind the hole in the bumper. Thanks to sensitive movements, the cobot optimally positions the adjustment tool into the screw head.Redundant safety is provided by the HRC-capable, heavy-duty aluminum gantry from D&uuml;rr Assembly Products &ndash; on which the KUKA LBR iiwa is positioned in a ride-on installation above the light collecting box directly in front of the headlight to be adjusted. The advantage here: additional robot positioning can be dispensed with. <h2>Case Study 3: Using a cobot to install pump wells. </h2><h2><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1566292578317-KUKAflexFellow_Platzierung_im_Arbeitsbereich_IMG_3628.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"></h2>In the future, BSH Hausger&auml;te GmbH will be using a <a href="https://www.kuka.com/en-us/products/mobility/mobile-robot-systems/kuka-flexfellow" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KUKA flexFELLOW</a> to carry out the installation of pump wells on the dishwasher production line.&nbsp;<article data-ignore="true">The initial situationThe <a href="https://www.bsh-group.com/us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BSH Hausger&auml;te</a> GmbH factory in Dillingen, Germany is Europe&rsquo;s largest and most modern factory for dishwashers. Around 10,000 machines leave the production line every day in two-shift operation. There are a total of seven production lines for manufacturing dishwashers.Screw fastening of the pump covers in the dishwasher is an ergonomically inconvenient task as the employee has to lean into the dishwasher housing to perform the task. The mechanical assistant now takes on this monotonous step in the process.&nbsp;The task &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Its contribution has already been tested successfully over several months as part of a pilot system. In addition to relieving the human operator of a cumbersome task, the robot also contributes by documenting its work and indicating whether the screws have been tightened correctly or not.The solution &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The key challenge when designing the system was to ensure that the manual workstation remained unchanged and that the automation solution could be integrated into the existing assembly line. Its sensitive and responsive capabilities enable it to recognize if, for example, a pump well component is not positioned correctly and then presses it into place.&nbsp;<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jtkJQJXO7AQ?&wmode=opaque" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 767px; height: 413px;" frameborder="0"></iframe>The advantages of using a cobot:<ul><li>Reduction of the manual workload in an ergonomically inconvenient task</li><li>Automated documentation of work steps</li><li>Indication of correct screw fastening operation</li></ul>Using its responsive capabilities, the cobot can then calibrate itself independently at its workstation, use a search run mode to find the screw positions, re-apply pressure to the component if it is not correctly positioned and finally tighten the four screws. <hr><h1> </h1><h1>Further Reading</h1><ul><li>Specifications of the <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/wevolver.staff/kuka.lbr.iiwa/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">KUKA LBR iiwa</a></li><li>&quot;<a href="http://bit.ly/kuka-future" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://bit.ly/kuka-whitepaper-US" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Shaping future production landscapes,</a>&quot; KUKA&#39;s white paper describing the &#39;megatrends&#39; that impact manufacturing and 3 key factors (people, technology and adaptation) to designing production infrastructures that can meet the requirements of the future.</li></ul> </article>

In human-robot collaboration, human and machine work hand in hand. The human operator controls and monitors production, the robots perform the physically strenuous work. Both contribute their specific capabilities.

human augmentation

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