Three Projects by Technion Researchers and Graduates to be Presented to President Barack Obama

Three projects by Technion Researchers and graduates to be presented to President Barack Obama during his visit to Israel.

Snake Robot

The robot was developed by Prof. Alon Wolf of the Faculty for Mechanical Engineering at the Technion. It is designed to enter spaces in areas prone to earthquakes and the collapse of buildings and to assist in location and rescue activities, by transmitting pictures and voices of trapped people. The robot is unique due to its crawling capabilities and is very flexible thanks to large number of links. Each link comprises engines, computer, sensors, wireless communication and batteries. The robot carries a camera in its head. Thanks to the snake’s flexible structure, it is capable of squeezing through the ruins without causing additional collapse of the structure, and is able to provide vital information from inaccessible areas about the condition of trapped people, the existence of hazardous  materials, etc.

ReWalk

Technion graduate Dr. Amit Goffer, founder of “Argo Medical Technologies”, will present the ReWalk, a powered external skeleton that enables  paraplegics to walk and perform other daily functions (sitting, standing,  and climbing/going down the stairs). The ReWalk is the first system of its kind. It is designed  to change the life of paraplegics, and Stephen Hawking  has defined it as one of the five most important machines for humanity. The device has already given almost 200  paraplegics the ability to walk , and  is used in the USA, Europe and Israel, including for partaking in Marathons. Amit will present the ReWalk, and Raddi Kaiuf,  paraplegic as a result of war injury, will demonstrate the system.

The system allows paraplegics to restore lower body function through a designated device that is harnessed to the body. The device is activated by a chargeable battery that lasts the entire day. The system uses motion sensors to identify the user’s movements and translate them to joint movements.

The users no longer need to use a wheelchair and they can move and stand upright. The ReWalk allows the user to walk on planes and slopes.

Generation of future scientists

Yarin Frenkel, Omer Zamir and Omer Shoshan, students at the Haifa Municipal High School C are the winners of an international robotics contest held in Connecticut, USA, in 2012. The students, guided by Prof. Igor Verner and his doctoral candidate Dan Cooperman, of the Department of Education in  Technology and Science at the Technion, have won for their development of a waiter robot that is aimed at demonstrating the ability to serve the  handicapped in their home. They  developed a “human” waiter  robot, which is better accepted by the user. The robot has 18 engines, sensors, a compass and a camera.

From right to left: Yarin Frenkel, Omer Shuham and Omer Zamir

Photos: Technion Spokesman