Obama to receive three hi-tech gifts at Technion
03/15/2013 04:11
A "snake robot," a ReWalk and a waiter robot are among the developments presented to the US president in his Israel visit.
ReWalk Photo: YouTube Screenshot
During US President Barak Obama’s visit to Israel, he will be presented with three
projects created by researchers and graduates of the Technion- Israel Institute
of Technology in Haifa.
A “snake robot” developed by Prof. Alon Wolf of
the faculty for mechanical engineering is the first. It can enter spaces in
areas prone to earthquakes and the collapse of buildings and assist in location
and rescue activities by transmitting pictures and voices of trapped people. The
robot is unique, the Technion says, due to its crawling capabilities and is very
flexible thanks to large number of links.
Each “vertebra” comprises
engines, computer, sensors, wireless communication and batteries. The robot
carries a camera in its head. With the snake’s flexible structure, it is capable
of squeezing through the ruins without causing additional collapse of the
structure and able to provide vital information from inaccessible areas about
the condition of trapped people and the existence of hazardous
materials.
The second is Rewalk, the first-of-its-kind powered exoskelton
developed by Technion graduate Dr. Amit Goffer, founder of Argo Medical
Technologies.
The device enables paraplegics to walk and perform other
daily functions such as sitting, standing, and climbing/going down the
stairs.
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 whole 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.
The third hi-tech gift, a waiter robot
to serve the disabled in their homes, was created by Haifa Municipal High School
Gimmel pupils Yarin Frenkel, Omer Zamir and Omer Shoshan and one will be given
to Obama. The robot has 18 engines, sensors, a compass and a camera. The project
was supervised by Prof. Igor Verner and his doctoral candidate Dan Cooperman, of
the Technion’s Department of Education in Technology and Science.