The chair of Carbon Composites (TUM-LCC) is glad to take part to the first Joint Academy of Doctoral Studies (JADS) in collaboration with the Imperial College of London (ICL). This program focuses on the cross disciplinary research on artificial intelligence, robotics and healthcare. The virtual launch event of the program took place on the 19.10.2020, supported by the Bavarian state ministry of education, science and the arts. The objectives of our project “Sensory Motor Interface for Lower Extremity Exoskeletons (SMILE)” was presented by Prof. Drechsler (TUM-LCC) and Dr. Vaidyanathan (ICL) to a large audience of professors, researchers and politicians.
The objective of the project is to tackle the loss of mobility or balance resulting from neural trauma or aging is a critical consideration in public health. Wearable robots (i.e. exoskeletons) are recognized as solutions for rehabilitation and assisted motion. Although research in exoskeletons is extensive, two obstacles have impeded full realization of exoskeletons: power/weight ratio of the exoskeleton structure and machine intelligence enabling adaption to specific patient. The project aims to develop a fully automated framework from the topology optimization of the structural parts to a robot-based rapid prototyping in order to produce customized lower extremity exoskeleton for stroke patients in less than 24 hours. 
More information on the content of the project can be found on our SMILE project web page and will be actualized permanently with intermediate results and publications.