Soft Robots for Physical Therapy Assistance
Researchers at the Reconfigurable Robotics Lab at EPFL are developing soft robots that can act as artificial muscles. These robots are made of elastic materials and can be stretched and bent using air pumps. Currently, these robots are not small enough to wear, but they are progressing.
The research team uses these robots to create simple robots that can act like human muscles. These robots could be used to build super-strong workers or punching machines, but the Swiss researchers have more humanitarian plans for them.
Matthew Robertson from EPFL said in a university news release, “We are working with physical therapists from the University Hospital of Lausanne who are treating stroke victims.” Several of the robotic muscles are arranged on a belt that stretches up the lower back. “The belt is designed to support the patient’s torso and restore some of the person’s motor sensitivity.” It combines the best of rigid electronics with soft passive assistance like compression garments.
These robots are powerful enough to help but not so much that anyone needs to worry about being injured by them. And there are many other applications envisioned for the tech.
The team published their work in Nature Scientific Reports, and has kindly made the hardware design and software tools open for anyone to download and use.
