The development process of bio-robots (or BioRobotics platforms) is an articulated and complex process that requires a multidisciplinary effort. Regardless of the application field, the development process is articulated in three major phases. The first phase is the conception and bench testing of the envisioned technology. In the second phase, the proof of concept/feasibility (POC/POF) developed in the first phase is advanced through an iterative approach with several cycles of in-lab validation and redesign. This second phase is therefore crucial to pave the way towards a successful deployment of the envisioned technology in a real-life operational scenario before accessing the third phase, namely the extensive validation outside the laboratory. The third phase is executed by exposing the BioRobotic platforms to real end users in an operational scenario. This phase is usually the starting point to transfer the technology from the lab to the market through a technology transfer initiative involving also private stakeholders.
Given the strategic importance of the in-lab extensive validation and redesign phase, this work package aims at the conception and deployment of a distributed ecosystem comprising 11 facilities/laboratories for the experimentation and in-lab early/extensive tests, redesign and prototyping of BioRobotics platforms, in the following application domains: Wearable and Collaborative Robotics, Mobile Robots and Drones, Artificial Organs and Prostheses, Medical Robotics and Regenerative Medicine, and Bioelectronics and Neuroscience Robotics.
Hereafter, we report the list of the 11 facilities/laboratories, each one is accompanied by a brief description of the scientific objective/s and application field.
- AUTVEH facility – Autonomous vehicles track
This facility aims at the development of new mobility and logistics services to increase the autonomy of disabled people thanks to the transport of people and goods based on autonomous navigation and automated services. In particular, the facility includes a car equipped with advanced driver assistance systems, a 5g connection, a set of sensors for the perception of the environment, and an open space with roads that will be equipped with traffic lights, road signs, and ground signs where safely testing autonomous vehicles in different operating scenarios (boarding, alighting and user-vehicle interaction).
View devices - C-LOOP laboratory – Cardio-circulatory system
The facility is a modular platform that mimics the human cardio-circulatory system and able to reproduce physio-pathological conditions for performing multi-physic tests in realistic environment. Different kind of prototypes can be tested: assistive cardiac devices, artificial ventricles, vascular grafts, artificial substitutes, interventional instruments, endoluminal navigation, drug delivery and others. The system would be a unique research facility to test multiple parameter variations on research prototypes, attracting researchers that will not need to develop their own partial equipment.
View devices - BIOREM laboratory – Bio-artificial tissues and organs
This facility aims at developing and testing bioartificial organs and tissues, bio-hybrid technologies for robots and implantable devices and functional biomaterials. It also aims at performing biocompatibility/immunogenicity tests. The facility will allow pursuing scientific applications at the edge of the state of the art concerning the coupling between synthetic and biological elements.
View devices - SAPIO laboratory – Early diagnosis tool for diseases with high social impact
The goal of this laboratory is to enable the creation and evaluation of early diagnosis tools for diseases with a high social impact (such as heart failure) that can be used on a large scale by low-skilled personnel. Therefore, the hardware of the devised solutions must be low cost and easy to install and use. At the same time, sophisticated equipment is necessary to label and validate the devised solutions. The research challenge is devising artificial intelligence algorithms that achieve adequate levels of accuracy and precision with low-cost healthcare instruments to maximize their feasibility for the system. The expected outcomes are ready-to use HW/SW systems for early diagnosis as well as datasets for training of AI tools for diagnosis support systems.
View devices - PHIS laboratory – Photonic integration for sensing
This facility will make it possible to manufacture and test novel optical sensing technologies for wearable devices, with the main focus of miniaturization of the solutions. Properly designed opto-electronic interrogators based on photonic integrated circuits technologies will read out the optical fiber sensors in order to extract all the physical quantities of interest such as temperature (monitoring temperature at specific locations along a profile), or strain (monitoring deformation and movement of a wearable devices). The facility will enable the embedding of photonic sensors in smart and bio-materials enabling haptic robotics based on fiber optic sensors.
View devices - EXOCOMP laboratory – Exosuit components
The scope of this facility is providing the infrastructure in terms of fabrication and testing equipment for the realization and testing of the components of new generation of robotic exosuits, i.e., harness, series-elastic actuators, distributed sensors, smart materials. Since exosuits are highly symbiotic robotic systems directly worn on the user’s body, there are a number of issues that need to be early tacked in the design phase to make exosuits adaptable and fit to human requirements.
View devices - FIRPADS laboratory – Flexible Interventional Robotic Platform for Advanced Diagnosis and Surgery
This facility has the objective to create a flexible and modular robotic infrastructure to allow immediate and easy development of a wide range of innovative interventional platforms and medical devices (in a pilot fashion) for advanced diagnosis and surgery with different level of autonomy/intelligence and functionalities. The goal is to create a “research gym” consisting of the main components, tools, and modules that a robotic computer-assisted platform must have to deploy interventional medicine. Moreover, FIRPADS will allow performing testing and validation (e.g., workspace, force characterization, etc.) of research prototypes, in terms of single modules, integrated platforms and operating principles for intraluminal, extraluminal and transluminal procedures.
View devices - BIOMECH laboratory – Biomechanics for bionic systems
This laboratory has the objective to provide researchers with realistic scenarios of daily living for testing bionic prostheses, exoskeletons, and collaborative robots. The laboratory will include scenarios that are typical domestic, occupational, and outdoor conditions of use (such as for testing the devices in the manipulation of objects, or in various locomotion tasks). The laboratory will also provide a comprehensive set of systems to capture biomechanical, physiological, and psychological measurements. The combination of realistic scenarios of use and measurement systems will make the laboratory a unique opportunity for a thorough evaluation of the efficacy of the devices and to design more sophisticated systems.
View devices - B2R Laboratory – Biomimetic and Biohybrid Robotics
This laboratory has the objective to create a facility for the design and fabrication of prostheses and exoskeletons as well as their biological interface to communicate with the human body. This includes adoption and compounding of biohybrid and biomimetic materials and design methods, bio-compatible actuators and sensors, development of suitable human-machine shared-control strategies.
View devices - ARTS Laboratory – Advanced Robotics and Tools for Surgery
The laboratory has the objective to create a facility for developing tools and applications for remote robotic surgery: advanced technology for surgery (intraoperative navigation systems and tools, collaborative robots, human-machine, and human-computer interaction), and an IoT-based platform for setting-up telemedicine services during robotic surgery. The design, implementation and simulation of Digital Twins (DTs) prototypes of systems for remote robotic surgery will allow the optimal design of the whole infrastructure to support the remote surgery, such as mobile networks or robot control parameters in case of human-interactions.
View devices - BIOROB Laboratory – Biomedical Robotics
The laboratory aims at developing tools and applications for biomedical robotics: rehabilitation and assistive technologies (wearable sensors, wheelchairs, exoskeletons, rehabilitation robots).
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