A challenge for assisting young developmentally-delayed children in learning to walk is to (1) stabilize medio-lateral body sway while promoting opportunities for exploratory behavior, and (2) develop gait that exploits exchange of potential and kinetic energy. To meet the challenge, we have built a modular multi-robot CPS: a scaffold that applies forces at the pelvis via cables to modulate and stabilize center of mass behavior, and a wearable robot that applies assistive torques at the hip.

Abstract: Large scale applications of cyber physical systems (CPS) such as commercial buildings with Building Automation System (BAS)-based demand response (DR) can play a key role in alleviating demand peaks and associated grid stress, increased electricity unit cost, and carbon emissions. However, benefits of BAS alone are often limited because their demand peak reduction cannot be maintained long enough without unduly affecting occupant comfort.

Abstract: Automotive applications require an exceptionally high level of confidence. For instance, the faulty ignition switches in General Motors vehicles have resulted in 52 crashes and at least 2.6 million vehicles with these switches have been recalled. If each vehicle spent only 1,000 hours on the road, there has been less than 1 crash every 5 x 107 hours of operation. Test tracks and simulations are unable to reliably detect failures that occur this infrequently.

Abstract: This project, NSF grant 1329363, is a modular, computationally-distributed multi-robot cyber-physical system (CPS) for assisting young developmentally-delayed children learning to walk. The challenges of assisting young developmentally-delayed children learning to walk are 1) stabilizing medio-lateral body sway, 2) developing gait that exploits energy exchange, and 3) coordinating multiple degrees of freedom.

Abstract: The goal of this research is to investigate and demonstrate the capabilities of hybrid computers, combining both discrete and continuous computation, in the context of cyber-physical systems.

This project is a modular, computationally‐distributed multi‐robot cyberphysical system (CPS) for assisting young developmentally‐delayed children in learning to walk. Three challenges are stabilizing medio‐lateral body sway, developing gait that exploits energy exchange, and coordination of multiple degrees of freedom. Adults assisting children learning to walk provide a “scaffold” of postural supports that enables the child to safely explore the forces acting on its body.

Abstract: Our objective is to engineer vehicles that can collaborate on the use of a  roadway.  The protocols that define the collaboration must be provably safe, and the implementations of the protocols by different manufacturers must be guaranteed to inter­‐operate. As an example we are using a collaborative merge protocol, that assists a driver merging between two vehicles in an adjacent lane.

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