Dr Ravi Vaidyanathan with Chris Caulcrick and James Clarke
PhD students Chris Caulcrick and James Clarke from the Biomechatronics Laboratory appeared on Monday on BBC Click Live.
The two, accompanied by their supervisor Dr Ravi Vaidyanathan, were invited on the inaugural episode of the broadcast to showcase the research of their team at Imperial College London.
During the technology-focused programme, Dr Vaidyanathan talked about a sensor system enabling users to control devices through muscle vibrations, while James and Chris demonstrated some of its uses in live demonstrations for the studio audience.
The Biomechatronics team presented to viewers a robotic hand that ‘listens’ to mechanical vibrations in the muscles of the user. The new sensor technology could make robotic prosthetics cheaper to manufacture and easier to use for patients with missing limbs.
The Imperial researchers also showed how the sensors could help a paralysed patient play computer games via eye muscle movements, and how a cyclist could shift bike gears through a simple flexing of his biceps.
The broadcast is available on the BBC News Facebook page (min.25), and further information on the research can be found on the Biomechatronics Lab website.
Article text (excluding photos or graphics) available under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons license.
Photos and graphics subject to third party copyright used with permission or © Imperial College London.
Reporter
Nadia Barbu
Department of Mechanical Engineering
