Event Date
Gregory Sawicki, PhD
Associate Professor, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering & School of Biological Sciences
Georgia Institute of Technology
ABSTRACT
The goal of the Human Physiology of Wearable Robotics (PoWeR) Laboratory is to discover and exploit key principles of locomotion neuromechanics in order to build wearable devices that can augment intact and/or restore impaired human locomotion. The primary performance goal of such devices is to reduce metabolic energy consumption of the user.
In the first part of the talk I will highlight our recent work examining whether powered ankle exoskeletons with novel neuromechanics based control schemes can help stroke survivors regain symmetric ‘push-off’ mechanics and improve ‘gas-mileage’ of walking.
Then, I will discuss the motivation and basic science behind the design of a portable, passive elastic exoskeleton and novel clutching mechanism that can provide ‘the spring in your step’ by storage and release of elastic energy in a parallel elastic element worn about the ankle (i.e. exo-tendon) during human walking. Our work demonstrates that this device can reduce the metabolic cost of normal walking by ~7% below normal without adding any external energy from batteries or motors. We contend that simple, bio-inspired designs promise more functionality than current passive AFO product lines; and a cheaper, more practical alternative to fully powered lower-limb exoskeletons now coming to market.
BIO
Dr. Gregory S. Sawicki is an Associate Professor at Georgia Tech with appointments in the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Biological Sciences. He holds a B.S. from Cornell University (’99) and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California Davis (’01).
Dr. Sawicki completed his Ph.D. in Human Neuromechanics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (‘07) and was an NIH-funded Postdoctoral Fellow in Integrative Biology at Brown University (‘07-‘09). Dr. Sawicki was a faculty member in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at NC State University and UNC Chapel Hill from 2009-2017. In summer of 2017, he joined the faculty at Georgia Tech with appointments in Mechanical Engineering 3/4 and Biological Sciences 1/4.
Dr. Sawicki directs the Human Physiology of Wearable Robotics (PoWeR) laboratory, where the goal is to combine tools from engineering, physiology and neuroscience to discover neuromechanical principles underpinning optimal locomotion performance and apply them to develop lower-limb robotic devices capable of improving both healthy and impaired human locomotion (e.g., for elite athletes, aging baby-boomers, post-stroke community ambulators).
By focusing on the human side of the human-machine interface, Sawicki and his group have begun to create a roadmap for the design of lower-limb robotic exoskeletons that are truly symbiotic - that is, wearable devices that work seamlessly in concert with the underlying physiological systems to facilitate the emergence of augmented human locomotion performance.
Faculty host: Carolynn Patten, PhD, Professor, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation