1. Prof. Pierre Lambert, Professor, ULB
Title: "Soft microrobotics : crossing point between mechanics, small scale and compliance."
For decades, robotics has been pushing stiffness to increase resonance frequency and using piezo-actuators as reference smart materials.
Nowadays, new microfabrication techniques for small scales and the emergence of compliant active and sensitive materials opens new ways to produce/sense motion and force below the millimeter. This talk will present two ongoing solutions currently investigated at ULB: using glass and photonic Bragg grating to produce instrumented compliant mechanisms, and using heterogenous polymerization of hydrogels to build active cubes at 100µm scale to produce selective kinematics on purpose.
2. Dr. Hieu Luu Trong, Can Tho University, Department of Automation Technology, College of Engineering, Viet Nam.
Title: " UAVs in Agriculture"
This talk is about research on mounted cameras drones in paddy fields. The research topic started with the relationship between predicting crop yield via soil compaction and plant health. It is continued with the evaluation of the surface roughness of the paddy field. From this researcg we can explain why the same paddy field can yield different productivity rates. Rice seed density is also evaluated using UAVs in the context of transplanted rice and rice sowing machines.
3. Robin Wilmart, PhD Researcher, ULB, SAAS
Title: "Robotics for knee rehabilitation"
Anyone who has suffered joint injuries probably had to consult a physiotherapist at some point and begin a long rehabilitation process. However, the shortage of physiotherapists in many European countries makes it very difficult for a patient to keep regular appointments, which can be disadvantageous, particularly in the early stages of the rehabilitation process when the physiotherapist needs to be seen more frequently. In comparison, to recover from an injury, a professional competitor will exercise and be seen by a physiotherapist generally every day of his or her rehabilitation, whereas an ordinary patient will have appointments twice a week on average, resulting in a longer rehabilitation period for the latter.
Due to the large number of knee injuries in the population, many engineers have focused their efforts on this particular joint and have proposed numerous robotic solutions to help physiotherapists manage more patients with knee injuries in the same amount of time. This talk will present the current state of robotics in this field and the challenges faced by the bioengineer when designing such devices. It will then demonstrate the importance of understanding the needs of physiotherapists and giving them the right tools to assess their patients on the one hand, and consolidate general medical knowledge of knee rehabilitation on the other.
For the teams link, or in-person participation, registration is required. Coffee and tea will be served.
This Seminar will also be livestreamed on our Youtube channel @BrIAStalks
Location:
ULB Solbosch Campus
Department of Control Engineering and System Analysis (SAAS)
Brussels School of Engineering
Building L second floor, door E