Autonomy and Intelligence in Robotic Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies

Topical Area: 

Robotic technologies have revolutionized the field of motor rehabilitation and have been successful in accelerating neural recover and motor restoration. Organizations such as the American Heart Association have endorsed robotic rehabilitation in particular for upper-limb therapies. In addition, robotic systems have been successfully utilized in the past decade to augment motor capabilities of disabled people to perform activities of daily living. Although robotic systems have shown a great potential for delivering rehabilitation and assistance, there is a need to make these technologies (a) more adaptable to and compatible with the variable biomechanical characteristics of the user, (b) more responsive to the intended movement of the user, and (c) more intelligent in delivering therapy and assistance. The aforementioned requirements have led to active lines of research in the fields of robotic rehabilitation, assistive prosthetic technologies and bio-signal processing. Motivated by the above, this workshop aims to report on the most recent developments in the field of intelligent rehabilitation and assistance for disabled individuals. The workshop will cover a broad range of related subjects including (but not limited to) machine learning, artificial intelligence, smart autonomy, bio-signal processing, system identification, modelling and control, and instrumentation for advanced human-robot interaction in rehabilitation and assistive systems. Specific topics of interest are listed below:

• Autonomous/intelligent robotic rehabilitation systems

• Advanced functional electrical stimulation for motor restoration

• intelligent prosthetic devices

• Machine learning for augmented therapy and assistance

• Bio-signal processing for intelligent rehabilitation

• In-home/remote robotic rehabilitation and assistance

Organization and Technical Committee:

 S. Farokh Atashzar1, Dario Farina1, Mahdi Tavakoli2, Rajni V. Patel3, Milos Popovic4,  Arash Mohammadi5 ,Matija Milosevic6

1. Imperial College London, UK

2. University of Alberta, Canada

3. University of Western Ontario, Canada

4. University of Toronto, Canada

5. Concordia University, Canada

6. Osaka University, Japan