IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2014 - 156

Figure 9. The participants from the International Workshop on Hybrid Fusion of RobotHuman Biofunctions Toward Cyborg.

The TC on Robot Mechanisms
and Design

●●

Cochairs
●● Aaron Dollar-Yale University,
Connecticut, United States
●● Kyujin Cho-Seoul National University, Korea
●● Claudio Semini-Italian Institute of
Technology, Italy
●● Matei Ciocarlie-Google, United
States.
Scope
The Mechanisms and Design Technical
Committee seeks to bring together
researchers with an interest in innovative
mechanical hardware in robotic systems.
Relevant topics include
●● compliant and variable-stiffness
mechanisms
●● the design of hardware for opensource dissemination
●● the design of robot systems incorporating novel mechanisms
●● materials and fabrication technologies as they relate to novel design and
mechanism paradigms
●● mechanism synthesis
●● novel actuator technologies
●● novel transmission technologies
●● parallel mechanisms
●● parameter selection and sizing of
actuators
●● underactuated mechanisms.
The TC on Robotic Hand,
Grasping, and Manipulation
Cochairs
Hyouk Ryeol Choi-Sungkyunkwan
University, Korea

●●

156

IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE

●●

Marco Gabaccini-University of
Pisa, Italy
Rod Grupen-University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States
Yu Sun-University of South Florida,
United States.

Priority Areas for the TC
Established areas
* multifinger robotic hand design
* hand sensor and actuator design
* force and tactile sensing
* grasping force control
* multimodal sensing
* sensor-based control
* grasping planning
* grasp contact modeling
* grasp quality measure
* dexterous manipulation
* human grasping and manipulation
modeling and learning.
●● Emerging areas
* underactuated hand design
* underactuated grasping
* caging
* whole-body grasping
* grasp synergies
* grasping with uncertainties
* task-oriented grasping
* in-hand manipulation
* learning and cognitive development of grasping and manipulation.
●●

Newly Formed Beijing Chapter
Welcomes RAS Distinguished
Lecturers
On 30 May 2014, Prof. Toshio Fukuda
and Prof. Qiang Huang hosted a
full-day workshop, the International
Workshop on Hybrid Fusion of RobotHuman Biofunctions Toward Cyborg,
at Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT),

SEPTEMBER 2014

China (Figure 9). The workshop was
coorganized by IEEE Beijing Section
Robotics and Automation Society
Chapter; the Innovation Center of the
111 Project Mobile Platform Design
and Manufacture (BIT), the Ministry of
Education/State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs; and the Laboratory
of Biomimetic Robots and Systems
(BIT), Ministry of Education.
The purpose of the workshop was
to bring together scholars from
around the world, including academic researchers and doctors, to discuss
a research frontier and clinical works
on the robot-human hybrid fusion
system. The agenda began with an
overview by Prof. Fukuda on the concept of workshop theme. The first
speaker, Arianna Menciassi from the
Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, presented innovative work on advanced materials and systems that could enable
the development of biohybrid actuators, based on living contractile muscle cells, and biohybrid sensors, based
on stimuli-sensitive cells. Prof. Kazuhiro Sakai, from the University of
Human Arts and Sciences, gave a
presentation on the current status in
prosthetics. He introduced the idea
that both user's demand and financial
issue were important to determine
appropriately prosthetic design and
component selection. Prof. Yasuhisa
Hasegawa, from Nagoya University,
presented progressive work on cooperative control of an exoskeletal assistive system to help paraplegics walk.
Finally, Prof. Jinglong Wu, from the
Institute of Complex Medical Engineering Incorporation, introduced
research on human brain mapping of
visual and tactile functions and early
detection for neuron disorders.
The workshop not only gave robotics researchers' an opportunity to share
their experiences and their visions on
biohybrid systems but also invited some
doctors to introduce their needs and
ideas in regenerative medicine and
rehabilitation, guiding us toward appropriate and effective research directions
for the future.
Travel support for some of the
speakers was made possible through the

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine - September 2014