“Now that we have a reasonable computer model, we hope to explore, in the future, the sensory apparatus and other functions of the toes in diverse human activities,” Hemami said.
He will be collaborating with Ian Alexander, professor of orthopaedics at Ohio State, in the near future.
In the future, Hemami wants to model the human spinal cord and develop a mathematical system that can determine the level of reaching and pushing required for certain tasks. Hemami uses the example of how much pressure one should administer to hold an egg in your hands without dropping or crushing it.
“My hope is that my work will inspire construction of robotic models of various body parts that can move similarly to the human body. If you can make a robot or computer model kick a soccer ball like a soccer player, we will have a better understanding of how various parts of the body work during movement. Then, perhaps, you can build an artificial spinal cord that could help the handicapped,” Hemami said. “Attaching a robotic spinal cord to the outside of someone who is handicapped could help muscle development.”
“We try to model what muscles do, which may help to develop more advanced prosthetics, so we have something better to offer people who need them,” Hemami explained.
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