BMEG 425 Biomedical Robotics

Over the past half a century, many aspects of industrial manufacturing have been automated through the application of robotics. This has resulted in increased precision, efficiency and safety, and decreased need for human interaction and intervention. Autonomous cars and robotic drones are already making inroads into our everyday lives. Biological and medical applications represent a new frontier for robotic applications. Surgical robots, assistive devices and prosthetics have been a part of this new wave of innovation.

This Biomedical Robotics course at UBC will has been offered for four years, and serves as a primer on this emerging field. The first half of the course focuses on the mathematical fundamentals of kinematics and control of robotic manipulators. The second half of the course introduces concepts of teleoperation and haptic feedback, and state-of-the-art applications in cooperative, assistive, rehabilitative, neuroprosthetic and surgical robotics.

In BMEG425, we focus on the biomedical aspects of robotics: the real-world challenges of interfacing a biological system with an engineered system. Lab sessions engage students in implementing haptic feedback for robotic control. The course project challenge students to propose a novel design for a biomedical robotic solution.