Human-Machine Processing and Communication

Overview

This IKTeam's long-term objective is to understand human processing and communication and develop artificial processing and communication allowing people with limited arm and hand function to engage in meaningful activities in realistic environments. This might include human-machine systems allowing independent feeding, cooking, and grooming. In a sense, we want to create, with people with paralyzed arms, a technology that has an impact akin to what a wheelchair does with people who cannot walk.

Example Projects

Right now our team is focused on robot-assisted feeding.  The video below is a good example of what we have accomplished so far.  We use computer vision to identify and locate food items on a plate.  A person can select an item using an eye tracking system, and the robot  picks up the food and brings it to the person's mouth.

We have acquired a Kinova Gen 3 robot and are working to integrate this robot with a wheelchair.  There are many challenges ahead that will require a transdisciplinary team.  How can we deploy this system in people's homes and in the community?  How will people pay for it?  How can people learn to use and teach their robot to do new tasks?  We hope you will join us.

Members

Ian Burkhart

 

Ian is a C5 complete tetraplegic from a diving accident in 2010. He is the Vice President of the North American Spinal Cord Injury Consortium. After participating in a few clinical trials, he understood the need for engagement of individuals with lived experience from the start. Ian also is the president of the Ian Burkhart Foundation, which raises funds for medical equipment for other individuals living with paralysis. His research focuses on amplifying the lived experience of people with disabilities.

North American Spinal Cord Injury Consortium

Ian Burkhart Foundation

Gina Kubec

Gina is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Health Sciences. As a member of the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation Center she has worked on research projects involving people who have high level tetraplegia. Prior to teaching at Cleveland State University in the occupational therapy program, she worked as a clinical therapist in the Spinal Cord Injury department at the Louis Stokes Veterans Administration Medical Center. During her time there she focused on acute care, rehabilitation needs, and patient education. Research interests include rehabilitation for the adult population, especially regarding the health and wellness of those with spinal cord injury and the use of technology to advance independence.

OTD, Occupational Therapy, University of Toledo, 2008
B.S., Psychology/Spanish, John Carroll University, 2000

Faculty Profile

Nick Zingale

Nick has over 30 years of academic and professional experience in higher education, public sector projects, and private sector consultation.  He is an Associate Professor in the School of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University and a Visiting Professor at Case Western Reserve University.  He is the co-director of the CSU T.E.C.H. Hub, co-director at the Human Fusions Institute, director of HELPPS -- a transdisciplinary team addressing the implications of advanced technology in society, and co-director of the Institute of Applied Phenomenology.  Dr. Zingale's research and teaching is at the intersection of phenomenology, advanced technology, and administrative governance.  He is an internationally invited speaker on governance and technology in society and is working on a book investigating Society 5.0 and the future of life and human experience.

Post Doctoral Fellowship, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, 2007
Ph.D., Public Affairs, University of Akron, 2004
M.B.A., Business Administration, Baldwin Wallace University, 1993
B.S., Environmental Science and Health, Bowling Green State University, 1989

Faculty Profile

Eric Schearer

Eric is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Center for Human-Machine Systems.  As a member of the Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation Center he works to bring robotic intelligence to neuroprosthetic devices to reanimate the arms of people with spinal cord injuries. Prior to his academic career, Eric was an engineering consultant with Exponent, Inc. where he investigated failures of engineering systems ranging from amusement park rides to eyelash curlers.  He also served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force working as a computational design and analysis engineer.

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, 2014
M.S., Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University, 2006
M.B.A., Business Administration, University of Notre Dame, 2002
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, 2002
Faculty Profile

Andy Slifkin

Andy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology. His main area of research interest is human motor control. In particular, he has studied upper-extremity control of movement and force production, and how such control is regulated by visuomotor feedback processes. Much of that research has used healthy younger adult participants, but other research has been based on rodent subjects, healthy older adults, and individuals with Parkinson's disease. Additional research interests include motor imagery, embodied cognition, the control of interval timing, and the use of time-series analysis techniques (e.g., spectral analysis) to characterize motor-output variability. With colleagues in the Washkewicz College of Engineering, Dr. Slifkin has been involved in research on the use of robotics to help those with spinal cord injuries feed themselves.

Ph.D., Biopsychology, State University of New York, 1995
B.A., Psychology, Temple University, 1988

Faculty Profile

Hongkai Yu

Hongkai is the Director of the Cleveland Vision and AI Lab and Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Ph.D., Computer Science, University of South Carolina, 2018
M.S., Traffic Information Engineering and Control, Chang'an University, 2012
B.S., Automation, Chang'an University, 2009

Faculty Profile