Biomechatronics
First Edition
Marko B. Popovic
Copyright
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Contributors
Yunus Ziya Arslan Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Philipp Beckerle
Technische Universitt Dortmund, Dortmund
Technische Universitt Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany
Matthew P. Bowers Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, United States
Pinar Boyraz
Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey
Ana Djuric Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
Ivo Dobrev University Hospital Zurich, University Zurich, Zrich, Switzerland
Gregory Fischer Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, United States
Adam D. Goodworth University of Hartford, Hartford, CT, United States
Keiji Iramina Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Songbai Ji Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, United States
Michelle J. Johnson University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Vukica Jovanovic Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, United States
Krishnanand N. Kaipa Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, United States
Derya Karabulut Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Kathleen A. Lamkin-Kennard Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, United States
Minas Liarokapis The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Ming Luo Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
Jun Ohta Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), Nara, Japan
Cagdas Onal Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, United States
Faruk Ortes Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey
Taskin Padir Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
Marko B. Popovic Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, United States
Dmitry A. Sinyukov Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
Hiroyuki Tashiro Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Yasuo Terasawa Nidek Co., Ltd., Aichi, Japan
Kimberly Tetreault Gaylord Hospital, Wallingford, CT, United States
Karen L. Troy Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, United States
Steffen Willwacher German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Introduction
Marko B. Popovic Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, United States
Abstract
Biomechatronics holds a promise to be one of the most influential innovative research directions defining the 21st century. Here, a notion of biomechatronics is defined and various topics encompassed by this crown of science and technology are briefly reviewed in the context of material presented in this book.
Keywords
Biomechatronics; Biological; Mechatronics; Robotics; Bionic
Born at the turn of the 21st century, the word biomechatronics refers to an interdisciplinary field that closely merges biological and mechatronics systems.
Here, mechatronics refers to technology combining electronics and mechanical engineering according to its dictionary definition.
The word biomechatronics, also initially written as bio-mechatronics, has been in use since the late 1990s. Since then, numerous authors have attempted to provide a concise and accurate definition that would most appropriately describe this popular field. Unfortunately, the majority of them failed to some extent either because they artificially limited its notion to only a very specialized subfield, typically, closely related to their own research theme or topic, or because they regrettably missed to fully recognize a fine ambiguity in the level of unification of biological and synthetic systems, here, specifically mechatronics systems.
For example, consider a human driving a car. Is that a biomechatronic system? Probably not, if the car is just an old-fashioned 20th-century car, a machine which is merely mechanically operated by human driver. And probably yes, if the car is an advanced 21st-century car which interfaces more closely with human driver and directly affects the process of driving through a controlled feedback loop. Imagine that this car can sense its environment, own state, and state of the human driver. It can understand user intent, has different levels of communication with a user, and can provide automatic breaking or steering when necessary. For example, interior car cameras can decipher user's attention and direction in which the driver is glimpsing at, based on the orientation of the driver's head and location of irises and eye pupils. Moreover, tremor in operation of steering wheel or gas pedal can be removed or even car seat and specifically neck support could change stiffness levels based on vibration levels introduced by different road conditions. Clearly, this is a prime example of biomechatronic system and human-machine merging.