This $1.47 million National Science Foundation project grant supports the development of adaptive wearable robots for movement assistance via bio-inspired sensorimotor integration from October 2022 to September 2026. Funded through the Engineering program under the NSF Directorate for Engineering (CFDA 47.041), this award to the Regents of the University of California, Riverside will develop novel soft robotic actuators and human-robot control algorithms to enable comfortable, low-cost,...
This National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) project grant award of $731,541 to the Regents of the University of California at Riverside (UC Riverside) will create a new class of microfabricated mesoscale surgical robots with shape-memory alloy (SMA) actuators, integrated sensors, and advanced control algorithms. The goal is to develop soft robots capable of safely navigating within the human body and performing dexterous manipulation of soft tissue for minimally...
This $550,000 National Science Foundation project grant, funded under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), supports the development of textile-based wearable robots integrated with fluidic logic at Rice University from July 2022 through June 2027. The grantee will design and characterize textile-based analogs to fluidic resistors, capacitors, and relays to build the fundamental circuit elements for fluidic digital logic. These logic circuits will then be engineered for performance and...
This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084) provides $650,000 to develop a soft growing robotic system to assist older adults and their caregivers with mobility support. The project aims to create an easy-to-use robotic belt that can safely transfer older adults from bed to wheelchair, reducing the physical burden on caregivers. The award includes sub-grants to the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center,...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $572,149 project grant to the Regents of the University of California at Riverside under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041). The grant will support research from March 2021 to February 2026 on developing morphological computation techniques for resilient dynamic locomotion of compliant legged robots. This has applications for precision agriculture. The Engineering program seeks to improve quality of life and economic strength by fostering innovation...
The National Science Foundation awarded a $584,258 project grant to the University of Utah under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) for work titled "BIO-INSPIRED MULTI-JOINT DESIGN AND CONTROL FOR EFFICIENT AND LIGHTWEIGHT WEARABLE ROBOTS" from March 2021 through February 2026. The grant funding will support the development of bio-inspired designs and control systems for efficient and lightweight wearable robots. The Engineering program aims to improve quality of life and economic...
This $762,104 National Science Foundation project grant supports the development of versatile wearable robots to rehabilitate gait disabilities in children with cerebral palsy. Funded under the NSF Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), the three-year award period runs from February 2022 to March 2025. Specifically, the grant recipient - North Carolina State University - will enhance the usability and comfort of a powered knee exoskeleton designed to improve gait biomechanics and walking metabolic...
This $800,000 National Science Foundation project grant will fund research at Florida Atlantic University to develop technology enabling disabled individuals to control advanced prosthetic devices. Specifically, the grant will support exploration of novel bimodal skin sensors, investigation of machine learning algorithms to classify user intent, and creation of a reinforcement learning paradigm for customized muscle training exercises. The goal is to empower those with upper limb deficiencies to...
This $454,020 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) will support collaborative research at the University of Michigan to develop soft materials with embedded sensors, circuits, and actuators enabling a new class of intelligent soft robots. The goal is to create a soft robotic manipulator that can autonomously recognize and sort objects by their physical characteristics using only these advanced material components, without requiring...
This $1,264,792 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) aims to develop a highly flexible and adaptable robotic arm called COBRA (Continuum Bioinspired Robotic Assistant) to assist people with disabilities or who use wheelchairs with daily tasks. The research at Worcester Polytechnic Institute focuses on creating soft, lightweight, and safe robots inspired by origami that can handle complex manipulations like picking up items or opening...