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In the field of biomechanics of human movements, we study by combining motion capture and algorithmic approaches:
- Activities of daily living such as walking, sitting down, standing up, lifting and carrying objects.
- Movements in sports such as running, jumping, diving, gymnastics, slacklining, martial arts, and dance, and development of metrics
- Emotional body language and specific movement styles in humans and their effect on others
- Changes in movements and motor skills across the lifespan
- Movements of persons with physical or mental impairments.
We perform thorough kinematic and dynamic studies of motions and quantitative assessments of stability & robustness and of motion learning.
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Inspired by the assumption of inherent optimality principles in natural processes and by the desire to optimize the performance of technical systems, model-based optimization and optimal control represent key technologies for our research, both in biomechanics and robotics. They are combined with model-free methods to increase efficiency and precision. We study:
- Mathematical models of humans, robots, and human-robot interaction
- Optimization & optimal control methods for motion analysis, synthesis - control and inverse optimal control.
- Combining optimization with model-free approaches for adaptive motion control
- Exploration of data-driven approaches for motion classification and component description
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Our main interest in the area of Humanoid Robots is in bipedal walking Humanoids, but - for applications in medicine and care - also robots with humanoid upper bodies on a stable wheeled basis. We investigate, e.g.:
- the generation and control of autonomous whole-body motion in challenging environments
- stability criteria and control for bipedal robot movements
- systematic benchmarking of humanoids for real-world applications
- Interaction of humanoids with complex objects, tools and personal transporters (e.g. Segway)
- Physical-social interactions between humans and humanoids
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We address problems of human-robot interaction in close proximity and development of customized solutions that take into account human-robot co-adaptation Specifically, we are investigating:
- Exoskeletons, especially for the lower extremity and the spine, for rehabilitation, movement assistance, and pain prevention.
- Mobility aids for elderly people, especially robotic rollators
- Lower extremity prostheses: passive prostheses in sports and customized active prostheses for specific user groups
- Functional electrical stimulation (FES) of hemiplegic and tetraplegic patients
- Robotic systems and digital technologies for movement learning and stability training
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