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SPOTLIGHT
Moving Assistive Mobility Forward with AI
Data-driven controller enables real-time assistance modulation by accurately estimating both the user and the environment states.
As we go through our daily routines of work, chores, errands and leisure pursuits, most of us take our mobility for granted. Conversely, many people suffer from permanent or temporary mobility issues due to neurological disorders, stroke, injury, and age-related causes. Research in the field of robotic exoskeletons has shown significant potential to provide assistive support for patients with permanent mobility constraints, as well as an effective additional tool for rehabilitation and recovery after injury.
Though the field has made great progress in the hardware and devices for these assistive technologies, there are limitations in ease of use and in the ability to move from walking to running, from flat ground to slopes and stairs, and across different terrains. Recent developments to create exoskeleton controllers that are more responsive to the user’s environment via user-based variables such as gait and slope calculations provide rapid yet imprecise outputs. More recent inquiry into data-driven improvements such as vision-based labeling and classification are extremely promising additions in the goal to develop a true synchronous user and device interface. A major hindrance to this data-driven approach is the need for burdensome mounted cameras and on-board computing to allow for real-time in use adjustments to the environmental terrain encountered.
Read More About the Tech Team's Solution
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IRIM Overview
Robotics Research
The depth and breadth of IRIM breaks through disciplinary boundaries and allows for transformative research that transitions from theory to robustly deployed systems featuring next-generation robots. Fundamental research includes expertise in mechanics, control, perception, artificial intelligence and cognition, interaction, and systems.
IRIM & Outreach
The Institute for Robotics & Intelligent Machines (IRIM) participates in numerous K-12 STEM and community outreach activities related to robotics. Additionally, IRIM hosts tours throughout the year, and our student group, RoboGrads, participates in activities to raise awareness of the importance of robotics technology and stimulate interest in the field
Robotics Education
Georgia Tech offers an interdisciplinary path to an M.S. and Ph.D. in Robotics to students enrolled in a participating school within either the Colleges of Computing or Engineering. A fully integrated, multidisciplinary experience, the M.S. & Ph.D. programs include both coursework and research with faculty members in various units across campus.
IRIM & Industry
Our Industry Program allows partners to explore opportunities for research collaboration, facilities and services, consulting, student hiring, and other interactions. Whether you join as a strategic partner, an affiliate, or as a member of one of our customized consortia, your team will be supported through our work as a interdisciplinary group of robotics leaders.
Core Research Facilities
The Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at Georgia Tech supports and facilitates the operation of several core research facilities on campus allowing our faculty, students and collaborators to advance the boundaries of robotics research.
New Faculty Feature
Welcome Matthew T. Flavin & Flavin Neuromachines Lab to the IRIM Team!
Prof. Matthew Flavin is currently an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he leads the Flavin Neuromachines Lab. Before joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, Prof. Flavin was a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2017 and 2021 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and he received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 2015 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He received the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award (T32) and the Draper Laboratory Fellowship. The vision for his independent research program is to develop powerful peripheral neural interfaces and mechatronic wearables that leverage advanced sensors and intelligent systems to address important and unresolved challenges in patient care.
Visit the Flavin Neuromachines Lab Here
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