BIOMEDICAL ROBOTICS

CODE	86744
ACADEMIC YEAR	2025/2026
CREDITS	6 cfu anno 1 BIOENGINEERING 11933 (LM-21 R) - GENOVA
SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY SECTOR	ING-INF/06
LANGUAGE	English
TEACHING LOCATION	GENOVA
SEMESTER	1° Semester

OVERVIEW

The purpose of this course is to provide a perspective on robotic technologies applied to (and inspired by) themes of biomedical research and practice. Robotics is a multidisciplinary technology, with elements from computer, electrical and mechanical engineering and with an increasing spectrum of biomedical applications. These include basic research in sensory-motor systems, advanced surgical and diagnostic techniques, human machine interfaces, robots for assistance and rehabilitation. In addition to learning the contents of the course, students are required to engage in different activities, including software development and scientific discussions in the classroom, both individually and in groups.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The purpose of this course is to provide a perspective on robotics technologies applied to (and inspired by) themes of biomedical research and practice. Robotics is a multidisciplinary technology, with elements from computer, electrical and mechanical engineering and with an increasing spectrum of biomedical applications. The first part of the course is intended to provide a background of formal instruments for understanding control of biomedical robotic devices. The second part is devoted to in-depth analysis of specific applications. These include basic research in sensory-motor systems, advanced surgical and diagnostic techniques, human-machine interfaces, robots for assistance and rehabilitation, biomimetic robotics.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The purpose of this course is to provide a perspective on robotics technologies applied to (and inspired by) themes of biomedical research and practice. Robotics is a multidisciplinary domain, with elements from computer, electrical and mechanical engineering and with an increasing spectrum of biomedical applications. These include basic research in sensory-motor systems, advanced surgical and diagnostic techniques, human-machine interfaces, robots for assistance and rehabilitation. The course aims at reaching an appropriate balance between basic notions of robotics and applications. Students are requested to engage in a number of activities, including software development, lecturing and develop research projects, both individually and as teams.

After completing this course the students will be able to:

Identify and describe different types of medical robots and their potential applications
Know basic concepts of kinematics, dynamics, and control relevant to robotics and more specifically to robots for clinical applications
understand hardware components of robotic devices.
Control robots with with biosignals
Develop the analytical and experimental skills necessary to design and implement robotic assistance (or force fields) for different biomedical applications
Be familiar with the state of the art in applied medical robotics and medical robotics research
Understand the various roles that robotics can play in healthcare

Additionally, students will learn to

manage their social interactions with a collaborative attitude, and constructive communication, in different environments
demonstrate collaborative attitude, coordination.

PREREQUISITES

Mathematics

Physics

Control Theory

TEACHING METHODS

The course aims at reaching an appropriate balance between basic notions and applications.

Students, in addition to being involved in lectures and discussions with invited experts for specific course topics, take part in several activities, including exercices, software development, learning how to control a robot and (if possible) lecturing ( or paper presentation), individually or in teams. Specifically, work groups will be organized where students will cooperate to apply the methods and the contents learned in class.

The final assignment consists of the control of a haptic robot in the laboratory

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The purpose of this course is to provide a perspective on robotic technologies applied to (and inspired by) themes of biomedical research and practice. The first part of the course aims to provide the formal tools to understand the kinematics, dynamics, control of biomedical robotic devices and their hardware and software components. The second part is devoted to in-depth analysis of the specific applications.The two parts into which the course is divided will be articulated as described below.

Part 1. Foundations

This will be a series of formal lectures involving simulation applications The purpose of the lectures is to provide the student with a sufficient mathematical basis for focusing on specific applications

Introduction, rigid motions, homogeneous transformations
Robot components
Direct kinematics and degrees of freedom
Inverse kinematics
Jacobian and singularities
Dynamics and inverse dynamics (hints, if possible)
Force and motion control

2. Applications

Biological movement control, Human-machine interfaces (including sensory feedback)
Surgery robotics, teleoperation, cooperative manipulation, robots for endoscopy
Robots for biomedical research
Rehabilitation Robotics
Assistive robotics
Biomimetic robotics
soft robotics: biomedical applications

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

MAURA CASADIO

Ricevimento: By appointment

LESSONS

LESSONS START

https://corsi.unige.it/11159/p/studenti-orario

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Students will be evaluated based on

a) Assignements in which the students write and comment a computer simulation or a hardware project related to one of the robotics topics presented in the first part of the course

b) Their active participation to the second part of the course, where students are request to present research articles on specific robotic applications and/or discuss with invited speakers (experts in the field).

c) Final exam

a and b are ongoing assessments (continous evaluation), while c is at the end of the course. Also for students not attending classes a and b precede the final exam (b can be part of the exam itself).

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The assessment methods here refers to the exams description above.

a) The assigments aim at evaluating the ability to understand, explain and solve problems related to the topics of the first part of the course on basic concepts of robotics.

b) The active participation part aims at evaluating the ability to learn, deepen and explain topics of the second part, related to robotic applications in the biomedical field.

c) The final exam aims at assessing that the course contents have been assimilated, that the student knows how to use them critically and explain them appropriately.

In addition to the knowledge of the course contents, the quality of the presentations, the correct use of the specialized vocabulary, the ability to reason critically and to apply the acquired knowledge in specific exercises will be assessed.