Dr. Oguz Yetkin

EMG-Free Control Strategies for Low Cost 3D Printed Robotic Prosthetics

Abstract

Control of robotic prosthetic devices is typically achieved through electromyogram (EMG) signals read from the residual limb. While this is the state of the art, it has several disadvantages including cost, unavailability of residual muscles for some patients, and the ability to control only a single degree of freedom (DOF) at a time.

We have re-framed the prosthetic control problem as a Human Robot Interface problem and developed several robotic interface methods which can eliminate or complement the use of EMG signals while allowing the user to quickly achieve more grasping patterns, thus allowing the use of all the DOFs available in the prosthetic device.

This talk will discuss the methods developed, as well as on-going work focusing on their adaptation into an easily deployable, low cost 3D printed robotic prosthetic system.

Biography

Dr. Oguz Yetkin, Ph.D. is a biomedical engineer and a Visiting Scientist at Ege University. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from University of Texas at Arlington in Bioengineering after developing a human-robot interface system for controlling prosthetic devices while working with the Next Generation Systems lab with Dr. Dan Popa.

Dr. Yetkin also holds a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Molecular Biology and Computer Science. Dr. Yetkin has more than a decade of experience as a professional software engineer and systems integrator. Dr. Yetkin’s areas of expertise include data visualization, algorithm development, medical imaging, prosthetic device control, computer-human interfaces, microfabrication, and rapid prototyping of new technologies.