Motion Control/​Automation

In my first blog, Designing from the Outside In vs. the Inside Out, I wrote about my long-ago design principle of starting a design with the user interface. But in those days, once the design was finalized that was it — I design it, it gets built, and the user uses it.

Many of our daily activities involve our hands’ prehensile abilities. While able-bodied people don’t think twice when using a spoon or lifting a glass, these actions are nearly impossible for someone unable to grasp things with their fingers.

Northwestern University engineers have developed the smallest-ever remote-controlled walking robot — and it comes in the form of a tiny peekytoe crab.

A more accurate, less-invasive technology allows amputees to move a robotic arm using their brain signals instead of their muscles. Researchers have created a small, implantable device that attaches to the peripheral nerve in a person’s arm. When combined with an artificial intelligence...