Robot-assisted Exoskeletons for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury
Details
PyData Pittsburgh is excited to host our June event: Robot-assisted Exoskeletons for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury. Join us on Thursday, June 25th, as Jonathan Shulgach, PhD student from CMU's NeuroMechatronics Lab, shares work in exoskeleton robotics using Python-based tools and machine learning methods.
Time:
6:30 pm – Doors Open
7:00 pm – Talk: Robot-assisted Exoskeletons for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury
About the talk:
In this talk, Jonathan will share work from Carnegie Mellon University’s NeuroMechatronics Lab on building wearable muscle-sensing systems for assistive robotics and rehabilitation. The talk will begin with the design of flexible high-density EMG sensor arrays, including the practical challenges of building wearable electronics that can capture rich muscle activity from the forearm.
From there, Jonathan will discuss how these muscle signals can be streamed, processed, and decoded in real time using Python-based tools and machine learning methods.
The talk will then connect these sensing and decoding challenges to an assistive robotics application: an open-source, 3D-printable hand and wrist exoskeleton designed to support functional grasping for individuals with spinal cord injury and other motor impairments.
Lastly, Jonathan will discuss how residual muscle activity can be used to predict a user’s intended grasp and control configurable hand gestures, while also highlighting the broader challenges of translating wearable sensing, real-time data pipelines, and robotic control into practical assistive technologies.
Link to Lab:
https://www.meche.engineering.cmu.edu/faculty/neuromechatronics-lab.html
About the speaker:
Jonathan Shulgach is a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in the NeuroMechatronics Lab. His research focuses on wearable robotics, haptic feedback, high-density muscle sensing, and human-machine interfaces for assistive technology.
He develops systems that use residual muscle activity, wearable sensors, and intelligent control methods to restore or augment movement for individuals with motor impairments.
