Events & News
Colloquium
| Category | Lecture |
| Date | Friday, February 27, 2009 |
| Time | 10:00 am |
| Location | ECE 530 |
| Speaker | Dr. Anthony M. Lewis |
| Title | Associate Professor |
| Affiliation | University of Arizona, ECE |
Neurorobotics and Walking Machines
In this talk, we describe the basic principles by which the
physical constraints of locomotion lead to the basic organization of
neural networks for motor control. We describe basic strategies for
the design of the detail of such circuits, including developmental and
evolutionary methods. Finally, we describe the ongoing construction of
Achilles, a robot that uses biarticulate muscles simulating the major
muscle architecture of the human leg. This robot is a clean departure
from current legged robotic designs, and will have clear advantages.
We describe possible applications of this technology in neuroprosthesis
and exoskeleton work.
Biography
Dr. Lewis is currently an Associate Professor of ECE at the University of Arizona. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California and a B.S. in Cybernetics from University of California at Los Angeles. He has held regular and visiting positions at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, UCLA, and the University of Waterloo. Dr. Lewis directed research at Iguana Robotics, Inc, a research and develop company. Dr. Lewis is best known for work in biological motor control of robotics systems, evolutionary robotics, and formation control of mult-robot systems. He has 80+ publications, 4 patents, and 2 best paper awards in the (bio)robotics area.