Electrical Engineering Robotics

Human motor control has always been efficient at executing complex movements naturally, efficiently, and without much thought involved. This is because of the existence of motor synergy in the central nervous system (CNS). Motor synergy allows the CNS to use a smaller set of variables to control a large group of muscles; thereby simplifying the control over coordinated and complex movements.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) recently developed a robotic arm to facilitate self-help and upper-limb mobile rehabilitation for stroke patients.

The latest ImPACT Tough Robotics Challenge public demonstration featured practical applications, with fire fighters taking part and more integrated robots capable of complex tasks.

The HKUST Robotics Team has scooped nine awards this year – including the world championship of the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) International Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) competition in Long Beach, California – the first Asian team who gained this honor since the game began in 2002.

New and improved rescue robots tough enough to function in extreme and hostile environments were unveiled recently at a demonstration at Tohoku University, Japan.

A research team, led by South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has introduced a new robotic tool for assessments of muscle overactivity and movement dysfunction in stroke survivors. Their findings appeared in the the prestigious journal, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

Researchers in Hong Kong have developed a novel surgical robotic system that provides tactile feedback and is capable of single-incision and natural orifice (incision-free) robotic surgery. The system minimizes surgical trauma and is safer than currently available robotic systems.