Biorobotics has scientific and educational methods that tend to break the barriers between engineering and fundamental sciences: in traditional terms the engineer invents whereas the scientist discovers, but biorobotics allows establishing fertile loops between discovery engines and technological developments. Culturally, these scientific methods were formalized in the “Guest Editorial Special Issue on BioRobotics” published by the IEEE Transactions on Robotics in 2008, and further consolidated for a decade and then refined and systematized in the editorial on “Science for robotics and robotics for science” published by Science Robotics in 2016.
Italy has a solid scientific leadership in the field, as depicted by a recent commentary entitled “Robotics for InterAction Technology: Italy’s key role in the next revolution”, published by Nature Italy. This is the result of a series of international research projects, particularly in European framework programs, pivoting on Italian researchers and institutions, and related excellence scientific outputs translating scientific discoveries into engineered intelligent machines and interaction technologies that are being fully deployed to generate socio-economic impact. The investigation of human motion control and biomechanics is generating a body of knowledge that can be translated in the development of humanoid robots, and of human-robot cooperation strategies to enable safe interaction with the environment, or robotic hands, legs and human-machine interfaces capable to enable gentle manipulation, that could be made more immersive by mean haptic interfaces enabling teleoperation and telepresence. As an ultimate stage of integration between machines and living beings, progresses in the body of knowledge of biomedical sciences can also lead to engineered artifacts interfaced with the nervous system for upper and lower limb amputees and subjects with spinal lesions to restore motor control and sensory feedback with bionic interfaces, or to restore the control of autonomic functions.
In this cultural framework, the present workpackage has the scientific objective to further break the barriers between scientific communities, and to this aim the activities of WP3 “Biorobotics Science to Engineering Translation” will be carried out in 13 labs/facilities, organized in 4 Scientific and Technological Areas: 1. Translational biomedical sciences, 2. Nano- to macro- scale bio-hybrid fabrication, 3. Sensing, measurements and control of intelligent machines, 4. Data and computational modelling.
- PATCHO Laboratory – patch-clamp electrophysiology
The main assets of this facility include microscopy stations, electronic instruments and tools for measurement of ionic currents in various biological models.
View devices - DONOR Laboratory – aDvanced OrgaNOtypic culture and 3D human tissue Reconstruction
The main assets of this facility include bioreactors for 3D tissue culture, 3D bioprinters, multiphoton microscopy.
View devices - CFL Laboratory – Complex Flows Laboratory
The main assets of this facility include microfluidic instrumentation for controlling and handling flow and particles/cells in microdevices, including a fluorescence microscope, in-vitro cardiovascular hydrodynamic testing system, tomographic PIV equipment and high-speed cameras for flow visualization, and HPC infrastructure and software.
View devices - N2 Laboratory – microneurography and microneurostimulation
The main assets of this facility include a motion tracking system, High-Density Electroencephalography to be used in synchronous microneurographic and microneurostimulation studies, a peripheral neural recording and stimulation system, an electromyography system.
View devices - CHRONO Laboratory – chronobiology of the brain-heart axis
The main assets of this facility include various tools for the evaluation of autonomic function and respiration across the 24-hour period and will allow the development of chronotherapies for cardiorespiratory diseases.
View devices - REISSUE Laboratory – robotic-assisted in situ tissue regeneration and repair
The main assets of this facility include biological clean benches and incubator, bioreactors for 3D tissue culture, 3D bioprinters.
View devices - +Tech Laboratory – technologies for bio-hybrid additive manufacturing from nano- to macro- scale
The main assets of this facility include a comprehensive set of additive manufacturing technologies for rapid prototyping and fabrication of structural parts, functional components and systems, biological and biohybrid devices, and micro/nanostructures.
View devices - PHOTOSENSE Laboratory – technologies for photonic sensing
The main assets of this facility include optical bench, tunable laser, optical characterization system and spectrum analyzer, micropositioners and optomechanics, digital microscope system, fiber optic polarimeter, micrometric electrical probes.
View devices - BIOS2 Laboratory – biomarkers infrared spectroscopy and sensing
The main assets of this facility include high resolution FTIR spectrometer and microscopy, MID-IR supercontinuum source, rapid-scan, ultra-broadly tunable MID-IR CW laser system.
View devices - MEASBIOROB Laboratory – technologies for biorobotic measurements
The main assets of this facility of measurement and characterization for biorobotics technologies include: non contact (optical) 3D surface/topography reconstruction of objects and surfaces, thermal and electrical characterization, electron microscopy preparation tools and bench instruments.
View devices - FLUTECS Laboratory – technologies for fluidic control of intelligent machines
The main assets of this facility include a motion setup, force and deformation acquisition systems and integrated fluidic sources for semi-automatic mechanical characterization of novel technologies based on fluidic principles.
View devices - INTOCADS Laboratory – intelligent optimized computer-aided diagnosis systems
The main assets of this facility include HPC infrastructure for processing biomedical images, signals and data and designing computational models like numerical digital twins, integrated platforms for biosignals acquisition and processing, integrated platform for cognitive/motor functional assessment based on virtual reality stimulation, motion tracking system for accurate motion capture and analysis.
View devices - SUPERCOMPLINK Laboratory – computational node for data storage and analysis
The main assets of this facility include a high-performance computing and data storage system, and a high-speed networking equipment to perform research on machine learning applied, but not restricted to, robotics, big data analysis and computationally-intensive model simulations.
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