Symposium highlights:
In an effort to create brain-inspired sensors and gain new insight into how memories are formed in the human brain, Hang Lu, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Georgia Tech, is studying how sensory- and memory-related genes are expressed and regulated in tiny micro-sized worms by observing the worms' behavior on an equally micro-sized chip.
While Steven DeWeerth, an electrical engineer at Tech with a focus on biomedical engineering, is working to understand how the body communicates with joints and muscles for movement and balance in order to design robots and prosthetics that replicate the naturally fluid movement of animals and humans. He's using a small robot that closely replicates the balance and movement of a cat, and a frog muscle linked to a virtual robotic leg.
In research that could lead to novel strategies for tissue engineering, repair and replacement, Georgia Tech biologist J. Todd Streelman is looking at fish jaws to better understand the mechanical properties of jaws and teeth under stress.
Researchers from other institutions will present findings on materials inspired by the strength of spider silk, the elasticity of cartilage, the arrangement of butterfly scales, the dry adhesion of gecko hairs for locomotion, fish teeth and the patterns and processes of diatom silica shells.
Other researchers will present research on the propulsive systems used in fish fins, jellyfish jets, insect legs and snake undulations, along with various ways to produce and coordinate these motions. One researcher from Caltech uses Electro Active Polymers, while another researcher from Case Western uses Braided Pneumatic Actuators as muscles in robots. A researcher at Northwestern uses whiskers as robotic sensors. At other institutions, researchers are outfitting robots with jointe
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Contact: David Terraso
d.terraso@gatech.edu
404-385-2966
Georgia Institute of Technology
11-May-2006