Abstract

Statistics indicate that approximately 2 million individuals in the United States are living with a major limb loss. This number is expected to rise substantially from the 1.6 million recorded in 2005 to an estimated 3.6 million by 2050, primarily due to vascular diseases linked to diabetes. Limb loss triggers biomechanical and neurological changes, limiting mobility and profoundly impacting overall quality of life.
The development of successful bionic devices to address the significant psychological and rehabilitation challenges due to limb loss is a key research topic in robotics. It necessitates collaboration across various disciplines such as wearable robotics and mechatronic design, human-machine interfacing and artificial intelligence, as well as clinical and neuroscientific expertise. In this workshop, we endeavour to facilitate a comprehensive discussion on the topic by inviting experts from some of the abovementioned fields. The proposed workshop aims to bring together PhD students and researchers working on assistive and rehabilitation robotics. The goal is to provide a comprehensive view on the state-of-the-art from different perspectives, foster open discussions on technological and translational challenges, and ultimately, inspire future research directions to overcome such challenges.

Speakers

• Liselotte Hermansson
• Christian Cipriani
• Marcia O'Malley
• Tamar Makin
• Tamim Asfour
• Cristina Piazza
• Levi Hargrove
• Nathanael Jarrassé
• Enzo Mastinu
• Strahinja Dosen
• Kianoush Nazarpour
• Hyung-Soon Park

Student-abstract award

The workshop aims to call for contributions of abstracts from students (1-page abstract) and of demo from speakers’ team. The best student contribution will be awarded with a certificate and a monetary prize offered by Prensilia sponsor. The best demo will be awarded with a certificate and a monetary prize offered by COAPT Engineering sponsor.

The accepted abstracts will be presented via both fast-track and poster presentations. Fast-track presentations are intended with format of 60 seconds with no questions. Poster presentations will occur in two break/demo/poster sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Posterboards will be available at the workshop room.

1-page abstracts must be in A4 page format, with minimum font size 10 and with a single figure. Abstracts must be submitted for evaluation to both:
•    Dr. Enzo Mastinu, enzo.mastinu@santannapisa.it 
•    Dr. Patricia Capsi Morales, patricia.capsi-morales@tum.de

The tentative dates for abstract contributions are indicated below, please contact us directly if a deadline extension is needed.
•    Abstract submission deadline: July 1st, 2024
•    Acceptance notification: July 31st, 2024

Tentative Agenda

• Introduction (5')
• Block1
  • Hermansson – clinical state-of-the-art and prostheses assessments (20')
  • Cipriani – invasive approaches, osseointegration and myokinetic (20') 
  • mini-panel Q&A session (10')
• Block2
  • O’Malley – wearable robotics and haptic feedback (20')
  • Makin – neuroscience and integration of robotics (20')
  • mini-panel Q&A session (10')
• Fast-track students presentations (5')
• Break + Live Demos and Posters (30')
• Block3
  • Asfour – rigid robotics design and the KIT HAND (20')
  • Piazza – soft robotics design (20')
  • mini-panel Q&A session (10')

LUNCH BREAK

• Block4
  • Hargrove – prosthetics control state-of-the-art (15')
  • Jarrassé – Cybathlon experience + reaching-based elbow control (15') 
  • Mastinu – reaching-based grasping (15') 
  • mini-panel Q&A session (10')
• Block5
  • Dosen – computer vision-based semi-autonomous control (15')
  • Nazarpour – computer vision-based grasping (15')
  • Park – proximity perception-based grasping (15')
  • mini-panel Q&A session (10')
• Fast-track students presentations (5')
• Break + Live Demos and Posters (30')
• Panel session (25')
• Awards for best student presentation and best demo (5')
• Final remarks (5')

Speakers

• Enzo Mastinu*
• Patricia Capsi Morales*
• Levi Hargrove
• Cristina Piazza
• Jakob Lund Dideriksen
• Strahinja Dosen

(*corresponding)

Acknowledgment 

This workshop was partially supported by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie program (#101029946), by the Italian Ministry of Research under the complementary actions to the NRRP “Fit4MedRob - Fit for Medical Robotics” program (#PNC0000007), and by INAIL in the framework of NoProblem project (#PR23-CR-P3).