Biography
Dr. Yu Haoyong is an Associate Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Na- tional University of Singapore. He received his Bachelor’ s Degree and Master’ s Degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and PhD from Massachusetts institute of Technology (MIT). His current research interests include biomedical robotics and devices, rehabilitation engineering and assistive tech- nology, biologically inspired robotics, intelligent control and machine learning. Dr. Yu has published more than 160 papers in the top tier journals and leading conferences in robotics and control in recent years. http://www.bioeng.nus.edu.sg/biorob/

Abstract
The promise of robotic exoskeletons to turn soldiers into super warriors and to enable paraplegic or stroke patients to walk again has not been fully realized after 15 years of intensive research all over the world. I believe the key limitations of current exoskeleton robots are in the areas of actuator design, sensing and control methodology to achieve human robot synchrony, and most importantly, system design for the right applications.

In this talk, I will briefly introduce the design, sensing, and control for a novel robotic exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation. It consists of a knee joint and an ankle joint actuated by the same novel series elastic actuator (SEA) with Bowden cables. The system adopts machining learning algorithm based on wear- able sensors for the robot to synchronize with the human movement and provide the assistance at the right gait phase. I will share my experience in the development of the system and provide my personal perspective on the status, the trend, and future applications for robotic exoskeletons.