Distinguished Seminar: Design and control of wearable robots for physical human-robot interaction

Marcia K. O’Malley, Ph.D.

Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering
Associate Dean for Research and Innovation
George R. Brown School of Engineering
Rice University, Houston TX USA

Friday, Jan. 28th at 3pm
3550 ME

ABSTRACT: Robots are increasingly transitioning from factories to human environments: today we use robots in healthcare, households, and social settings. I’m particularly interested in the potential for improving human performance with wearable robotic devices. Physical interactions between robots and humans offer an opportunity for the human and robot to implicitly communicate. For example, a rehabilitation robot exoskeleton can guide and train human movements, or a wearable haptic device can be used to convey informative tactile cues to the user. As engineers, we must consider the unique design and control constraints that are introduced when we design robots that are to be worn by the human, such as the complex degrees of freedom of human joints, the limitations of our human perceptual capabilities, and the necessity for compliant control algorithms to ensure user safety. This talk will feature recent research from my lab and will highlight these design challenges and the unique approaches that we have taken to ensure that the wearable robot and human achieve more together than either can achieve alone.

BIO: Marcia O’Malley is the Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Associate Dean for Research and Innovation in the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at both Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. She received her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and her MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University. Her research is in the areas of haptics and robotic rehabilitation, with a focus on the design and control of wearable robotic devices for training and rehabilitation. She has twice received the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching at Rice University. O’Malley was a recipient of both the ONR Young Investigator award and the NSF CAREER Award. She is a Fellow of both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. She currently serves as associate editor-in-chief for the IEEE Transactions on Haptics and as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation Conference Editorial Board.