News
IROS 2024 Workshop - Interactive Robots and AI for Healthcare, 14th October 2024, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Five accepted papers in BIOROB 2024
ShortBio
Carlos A. Cifuentes is an associate professor of human-robot interaction at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. Before, he was an assistant professor in Colombia between 2016 and 2022-may with the School of Engineering, Science and Technology at Universidad del Rosario and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Colombian School of Engineering Julio Garavito (ECIJG), where he was also the Head of the Center for Biomechatronics. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the Federal University of Espirito Santo (UFES, Brazil), the University of Cauca, Universidad del Rosario, EPF Graduate School of Engineering and Plymouth University. Before that, he was a post-doc at UFES (2015). He is broadly interested in human-robot interaction and rehabilitation robotics.
He was born in Bogota, Colombia. In 2004, he received a BSc degree in Electronic Engineering from ECIJG, where he received a grade of honour and was awarded the highest GPA of his class. He received his Specialization in Project Management in 2006 at ECIJG. From 2006 to 2011, he worked as an entrepreneur and teaching assistant in the field of embedded systems and robotics. In 2011, he obtained his M.Sc. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the National University of Entre Rios, Argentina. His master’s dissertation was lauded as one of “10 finalists at the Make It Challenge: Kinetis MCUs Americas" by Freescale semiconductors.
In 2012, he joined the Robotics and Industrial Automation Group at UFES to pursue a PhD degree. He developed a part of his thesis at the Automation Institute (UNSJ, Argentina) and at the Neural and Cognitive Engineering group, CAR (UPM-CSIC, Spain). His PhD thesis (2015) for which he received the Honorable Mention Award CAPES as one of Brazil's best theses in 2016. This thesis was focused on developing a multimodal human-robot interface that provides a means of testing and validating control strategies for robotic walkers to assist human mobility and gait rehabilitation. Springer published this thesis as part of The Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (2016).
In 2017, his work was lauded as one of the “five history-changing ideas in Latin America" by the History Channel. In 2020, he was elevated to the IEEE Senior member grade, an honour bestowed by his significant contributions to the profession. In 2021, one of his open-source robotic creations was the finalist at the ICSR Robot Design Competition. He published his second book with Springer and was appointed Associate Editor for IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine (RAM, IF 5.143).
His research on Human-Robot Interaction is world-leading, and his team’s research has conclusively shown the benefits of using robots in a healthcare context. Funding agencies such as the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng, UK), Ibero-American Programme on Science and Technology for Development (CYTED) and Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Minciencias, Colombia) present his research as a funding success.
Projects
2024-26: EXOCON - Wearable Smart Device for Improving Health & Safety, Well-being, and Productivity in Construction Projects, Vice Chancellor’s Challenge Fund (CF) - UWE.
2024: Smart Sock Fusion: Advanced Integration of Kinematic and Kinetic Sensors for Holistic Healthcare Monitoring in Aging Adults, Grant 11751827 - Regional Innovation Fund - Milbotix.
2023-25: Socially Assistive Walker To Promote Health And Well-being in Older Adults—SAW-Health, Grant MR/Y010620/1, Ageing Research Development Awards (Medical Council Research).
2022: Evaluation and development of an elbow exoskeleton to increase strength for lifting objects, Grant IV-TFA051, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia.
2021-22: Evaluation of robotic systems for physically rehabilitating patients with neurological injuries and mobility impairments in clinical settings, Grant 845-2020-1. Minciencias, Colombia.
2021-22: Evaluation of the impact of the intervention of a social robot in a long-term study in patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Grant 845-2020-2, Minciencias, Colombia.
2020-21 COVIBOT: Robotic Strategies for Monitoring and Disinfection of COVID-19 Environments, Grant EXPP2021\1\183, ReaAEng, UK.
2018-21: Design, Development, and Implementation of a Rehabilitation Platform for Patients with Cerebral Palsy at the Cruz del Sur Rehabilitation Center, Grant 40017861, the regional government of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, Innovation Fund for Competitiveness, Chile.
2018-21: Design, Assessment of Quality of Life Patients with Parkinson and Multiple Sclerosis, Grant 40017862, the regional government of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica, innovation fund for competitiveness, Chile.
2018-21: Development of an adaptable robotic platform for gait rehabilitation and assistance, Grant 801-2017, Minciencias, Colombia.
2018-21: Evaluation of the impact of the intervention of a social robot on the cardiovascular responses of patients in the cardiac rehabilitation program of the Fundación Cardioinfantil-Instituto de Cardiología, Grant 813-2017, Minciencias, Colombia.
2019-21: PrExHand Project: Affordable and Modular Prosthetics and Exoskeletons for Hand Rehabilitation and Assistance, Grant IAPP18-19\264, ReaAEng, UK.
2018-21: CASTOR: CompliAnt SofT Robotics, Grant IAPP1\100126, ReaAEng, UK.
2018-19: Bilateral U.S.-Colombia Network for Research and Educational Exchange: Affordable Assistive Technology for Rural and Peace Development, Grant S‐CO200‐17‐GR0065, ICETEX Colombia, Partners of the Americas, and 100k Strong in the Americas Program.
2018-19: Development of an affordable hand prosthesis, Grant FoESF1718\3\2, ReaAEng, UK.
2016-19 Ibero-American rehabilitation and assistance network for patients with neurological damage using low-cost robotic exoskeletons REASISTE, CYTED, Spain.
2017: Active ankle orthosis using flexible robotics, ECIJG, Colombia.
2017: Evaluating biomechanical parameters in assisted walking with an active exoskeleton, ECIJG, Colombia.
2017: Evaluating biomechanical parameters in assisted walking with a robotic walker, ECIJG, Colombia.
2017-19: Developing and implementing an adaptable robotic platform for gait rehabilitation and assistance based on integrating an active exoskeleton and a robotic walker, "EksoWalker," ECIJG, Colombia.
2016-18: Human-Robot Interaction Strategies for Rehabilitation based on Socially Assistive Robotics, Grant IAPP\1516\137, ReaAEng, UK.
2016-17: Human-Environment Interaction Strategies for Robotic Walker Assisted Walking, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil.
2015: Interaction Strategies between Human and Robots for Assisted Locomotion, FAPES, Brazil.
2014-16: Transparent Active Orthoses for Rehabilitation and Locomotion Assistance, MEC/MCTI/CAPES/CNPQ, Brazil.
2013-16: Development of a Robotic Platform for Rehabilitation Based on the Exoskeleton and Robotic Walker Fusion (WALKTrainer), MEC/MCTI/CAPES/CNPQ/F APS No 61/2011, Brazil.
2012-15: Development of a ZigBee sensor network for monitoring lower limb rehabilitation., CNPq-Universal 14/2012, Brazil.
2011: Sensor-based biomechanical kinematics monitoring system for physical rehabilitation, Freescale Semiconductor, USA.
Books
Interfacing Humans and Robots for Gait Assistance and Rehabilitation, 2021 (Co-author: Prof Dr. Marcela Múnera)
The concepts represented in this textbook are explored for the first time in assistive and rehabilitation robotics, which is the combination of physical, cognitive, and social human-robot interaction to empower gait rehabilitation and assist human mobility. The aim is to consolidate the methodologies, modules, and technologies implemented in lower-limb exoskeletons, smart walkers, and social robots when human gait assistance and rehabilitation are the primary targets.
This book presents the combination of emergent technologies in healthcare applications and robotics science, such as soft robotics, force control, novel sensing methods, brain-computer interfaces, serious games, automatic learning, and motion planning. From the clinical perspective, case studies are presented for testing and evaluating how those robots interact with humans, analyzing acceptance, perception, biomechanics factors, and physiological mechanisms of recovery during the robotic assistance or therapy.
Interfacing Humans and Robots for Gait Assistance and Rehabilitation will enable undergraduate and graduate students of biomedical engineering, rehabilitation engineering, robotics, and health sciences to understand the clinical needs, technology, and science of human-robot interaction behind robotic devices for rehabilitation, and the evidence and implications related to the implementation of those devices in actual therapy and daily life applications.
Provides concepts and examples for different types of robots for assistance and rehabilitation.
Addresses clinical needs, experiences, and perspectives of the use of rehabilitation technology.
Looks at science and technology of human-robot interaction for healthcare applications.
Human-Robot Interaction Strategies for Walker-Assisted Locomotion, 2016 (Advisor: Prof Dr. Anselmo Frizera)
Different types of pathologies may affect human mobility. It is also known that human capacities in mobility decrease gradually with age. In this scenario, walkers present important benefits for human mobility, improving balance and reducing the load on their lower limbs. Most importantly, walkers induce the use of residual mobility capacities of the user in generic environments.
This doctoral thesis presents a multimodal human-robot interface that provides a means of testing and validating control strategies for robotic walkers for assisting the human mobility and gait rehabilitation. This interface extracts navigation intentions from a novel sensor fusion strategy that combines a LRF (Laser Range Finder) sensor to estimate the users legs' kinematics from the walker, along with wearable IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) sensors to capture the human orientation. At the same time, force sensors measure the interaction forces between the human and the walker.
(Book) An improved version of this thesis was published in Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics
This book presents the development of a new multimodal human-robot interface for testing and validating control strategies applied to robotic walkers for assisting human mobility and gait rehabilitation. The aim is to achieve a closer interaction between the robotic device and the individual, empowering the rehabilitation potential of such devices in clinical applications. A new multimodal human-robot interface for testing and validating control strategies applied to robotic walkers for assisting human mobility and gait rehabilitation is presented. Trends and opportunities for future advances in the field of assistive locomotion via the development of hybrid solutions based on the combination of smart walkers and biomechatronic exoskeletons are also discussed.