Monday, June 21, 2010

Generous Researchers

One of the benefits of being with Quanser is visiting universities and seeing ground breaking research taking place with the platforms we’ve developed. The other benefit is getting exposed to the generosity of researchers in sharing their passion for discovery with the world. These researchers are very vocal about the work that they’re doing and know that it will lead to a benefit for humanity.

An example can be seen through Dr. Chinpei Tang, a post-doc working with Dr. Mark Spong at UT Dallas, who’s working to tackle the issue of collaborative lifting by robots. One day, hernias and slipped discs may be history as robots are able to handle grunt hauling in groups. In the process of doing his work, Chinpei’s also conquering the task of tele-operation of robot collectives and using new platforms for targeting controllers.

Video of QUARC being used on Gumstix:



Another example is Dr. Marcia O’Malley and the students that are part of the MAHI (Mechatronics and Haptics Interfaces) Lab at Rice University. They are working on projects that will help rehabilitate those who’ve had injuries affecting their movement. Ozkan Celik, one of Marcia’s students, has conducted research on “illusory kinesthetic feedback” (more here) that uses vibrations to provide the sensation of moving one’s arm – even to beyond the arm’s range of movement. Another aspect of their research is using game controllers for possible low cost rehabilitation solutions.

These researchers use tools such as QUARC and Quanser data acquisition cards for conducting their work. They’re passion is present when they speak about their research and they’re open to working with others in their field.

If you’re using a Quanser tool for your research, why not post a video on YouTube and send us a link? We love hearing about it.

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