Current Active Research Work

Quantitative Skill Assessment of Robotic Minimally Invasive Surgeries (rMIS)

Surgical proficiency engenders merger of sensory and cognitive capabilities and conducting systematic assessment in this context has always been a topic of considerable importance. Robotic minimally-invasive-surgery (rMIS) is the fastest growing segment of computer-aided surgical systems today and has often been heralded as the new revolution in healthcare industry. However, the surgical performance-evaluation paradigms have always failed to keep pace with the advances of surgical technology...

Dynamics-based Human Motion Modeling for People Tracking (DARPA Mind’s Eye Program)

Human tracking is one of the most challenging problems in computer vision. Past work shows use of efficient inference algorithms and motion models based on kinematic priors to deal with the problem. However, such algorithms fail especially in case of complex human poses and occlusion. Results can be improved by incorporating knowledge about the dynamics of the system in the inference algorithm. Little work has been done to incorporate system dynamics for accurate tracking of articulated human subject. In this work, we propose the use of biomechanical and statistical motion models to track a single articulated human subject using...

Surgical Simulator Design for Biopsy Procedures

Our overall goal is to develop and validate the paradigm of a Real-Time Haptic Immersive Virtual Environment (RT- HIVE) for enhanced human manipulation performance in a variety of application arenas. Their principal promise lies in the ability to expand, assist, train and monitor human sensorimotor capabilities for improving physical strength as in augmenting the manual precision, as in scaling motions and forces and as in dexterity. The overall kinesthetic immersive experience is the synthesis of the human user, the haptic user interface (HUI) and virtual environment (VE) – all of which play critical roles. ...

Real Time Haptic Immersive Virtual Environment (RT-HIVE) for Surgical Simulation

Our overall goal is to develop and validate the paradigm of a Real-Time Haptic Immersive Virtual Environment (RT- HIVE) for enhanced human manipulation performance in a variety of application arenas. Their principal promise lies in the ability to expand, assist, train and monitor human sensorimotor capabilities for improving physical strength as in augmenting the manual precision, as in scaling motions and forces and as in dexterity. The overall kinesthetic immersive experience is the synthesis of the human user, the haptic user interface (HUI) and virtual environment (VE) – all of which play critical roles. ...

Design and Analysis of Parallel Haptic Devices

Recently, there has been considerable interest in creating parallel-architecture haptic devices as in-parallel systems by a modular composition approach, wherein multiple articulated serial-chain arms cooperate to control a common end-effector. Such a composite-system can now potentially allow for increased redundancy, robustness, and reliability and even active reconfigurability for different tasks. However, such modularity creates increased design-choices, in terms of methods to realize given tasks, and requires a design selection process to determine the best designs. However, the system performance in a modularly composed system depends both the nature of the individual modules as well as their interactions, which creates challenges. ...

Kinematic and Dynamic Simulation of 6 DOF P-U-S Type Manipulators

In our research, we analyzed a general 6-P-U-S architecture and conducted a kinematic analysis for workspace as well as singularities. Using the symbolic kinematic modeling, we then specialized this general system to a specific architecture that would not posses any form of workspace interior singularities. We even analyzed the workspace aspect for such parallel-architecture manipulators – with the primary goal of optimizing the link geometries and parameters to enhance overall workspace and other selected geometric workspace-based performance-measures....

Musculoskeletal Simulation-based Analysis and Design Framework

we examine the application of Virtual Prototyping (VP) methodology to study, evaluate, and refine human-machines interactions. VP refers to functional simulation, quantitative performance analysis, and iterative refinement of products and processes in a virtual environment. The principal benefits accrue from the capacity for rapid quantitative and computational exploration of numerous “what–if” design scenarios at relatively low cost. We uses this framework for the design and performance evaluation of rehabilitation programs and exoskeletons. ...

Bilateral Teleoperation of Wheeled Mobile Manipulator

Teleoperation offers humans the ability to extend their own reach and senses over various length and timescales in innumerable applications. These applications include remote control of semi autonomous robotic system in hazardous and remote environment from minimally invasive surgeries to deep-sea and planetary exploration. In a typical bilateral teleoperation setup, a user controls a master manipulator device that can range from a joystick to multi-degree of freedom force reflecting (haptic) device. The user's commands are transmitted through a communication medium to the slave device (a distant robotic manipulator), which attempts to execute received commands while interacting within the remote environment. ...

Reconfigurable Omnidirectional Articulated Wheeled Mobile Robot

Articulated Wheeled Robotic (AWR) locomotion systems consist of chassis connected to a set of wheels through articulated linkages. Such articulated ¡°leg-wheel systems¡± facilitate reconfigurability that has significant applications in many arenas, but also engender constraints that make the design, analysis and control difficult. We will study this class of systems in the context of design, analysis and control of a novel planar reconfigurable omnidirectional wheeled mobile platform. There are many scenarios where planar AWRs could benefit from reconfigurability (which in the past has often only been explored in the context of uneven terrain locomotion). .  ...

Cooperative Payload Transport by Robot Collectives

Cooperation has been the key to success of most human endeavor and the similar incorporation of cooperation in robotic systems is critical to realize the next generation of systems and applications. Interest in cooperating systems arises when the tasks may be inherently too complex for a single system to accomplish; or when building and using several simple systems can be more flexible, fault-tolerant or cheaper than using a single large system. ...

Design of Articulated and Spring-Assist Leg-Wheel Systems

Our long-term goal is one of designing land-based vehicles to provide enhanced uneven terrain locomotion capabilities. In this research, we examine and evaluate candidate articulated legwheel subsystem designs for use in such vehicle systems. Our long-term goal is one of designing land-based vehicles to provide enhanced uneven terrain locomotion capabilities. In this research, we examine and evaluate candidate articulated legwheel subsystem designs for use in such vehicle systems. ...

The Smart Car Project - A Case Study of Computer-Mediated Interfaces

In this work, we investigate the development, implementation and testing of an inexpensive scaled-prototype "Smart Car" test bed. The test bed consists of retrofitting a commercially available Radio-Control (RC) truck with a PC/104 based computer, various embedded sensor- and actuator-subsystems together with multiple modes of communication (Radio Frequency (RF) and IEEE 802.11b wireless Ethernet).  The overall goal of our work is the creation of an inexpensive test-bed capable of operating in real time equipped ...

Wireless Data-Acquisition System for In-Flight Acceleration Measurement of a Football

The increasing availability of small-scale, fast-response instrumentation has contributed both to improved equipment and better training methods in several sports, such as golf. In contrast, the game of football has not seen comparable advances, in part because the flight of a football entails a complex interaction between gyroscopic and aerodynamic loads. ...

Automation- and Simulation-Based Computer Aided Design and Virtual Prototyping of Various Planar and Spatial Parallel Manipulators

Moog 6 DOF Electric Motion Platform (currently installed in the NYSCEDII) is a (spatial) motion base coupled with an immersive visualization capability, provides an immediate benefit to transportation industries (aircraft, automotive, construction equipment, etc.) involved in product design and training, as well as the location-based entertainment industry. ...

Shape Synthesis of a Compliant Mechanism Using Optimization in FEMLAB

Traditionally, designers of mechanisms and mechanical systems for motion and force transmission assume rigid links to component members and fixed location for the joints. Elastic deformation is traditionally viewed as a hindrance to the overall performance. However, when the rigidity assumption is relaxed and deformation of objects is utilized favorably for motion and force transmission, there is a possibility of turning this designer's problem into a solution;  ...

Immerse Virtual Environment for Individualized Progressive Telerehalibitation

Virtual Reality (VR) environments, which exploit the sensory-immersion of the user to facilitate development of interactive and intuitive human-computer interfaces have applications in diverse fields. In our work, we propose the development and evaluation of a virtual driving simulator with haptic feedback (providing the sense of touch, as well as kinesthetic information) to aid in rehabilitation of lost motor coordination skills in (stroke) patients. ...

The Vertebrate Analyzer: A Simulator to Analyze Form, Function, and Behavior of Extant and Extinct Vertebrates

with NYSCEDII, AC2ME, CRESE and Gross Anatomy Lab

Currently, we can model form and emulate behavior of extant and extinct vertebrates, but the potential to create and analyze these models to investigate relationships among form, function, and behavior is less developed. ...

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" With an annual budget of about $6.06 billion, we are the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing. ...

NYSTAR supports technology development, innovation and commercialization leading to economic growth in New York State. To achieve its vision and make New York a national leader in high-technology academic research and economic growth, NYSTAR's mission is comprised of key goals — benchmarks that reflect the overall charge given to NYSTAR...

The OVPR and its constituent units have overall responsibility for the University’s research enterprise. It seeks to stimulate an atmosphere that fosters and rewards creativity, collaboration and community. It provides support for campus-wide research efforts; advocates on behalf of research needs and resources; and maximizes the benefits of UB’s research to the scholarly community, and to the quality of life in Western New York, the state, and the nation.  ...