Event Location: NSH 1305
Bio: Robert (Bob) J. Webster III received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Clemson University in 2002, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins Univeristy in 2004 and 2007, respectively. At Johns Hopkins he was affiliated with the Haptics, LIMBS, and CISST-ERC laboratories. He has pursued research as a visiting scholar at University of Newcastle, Australia, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Italy, and the Savannah River Site (a Department of Energy Laboratory). He joined the faculty of the Vanderbilt University Mechanical Engineering Department in January 2008, where he directs the Medical & Electromechanical Design (MED) Laboratory. Professor Webster’s research interests are in electromechanical design, modeling, and control, particularly as applied to medical systems. His research involves image-guided surgery, medical robotics, thin flexible snake-like manipulators, and steerable needles. He is also developing pill-sized swallowable legged robots and haptic human-machine interfaces for surgical training and teleoperation.

Abstract: Steerable Needles and Active Cannulas are new robotic devices that have the potential to reach previously inoperable disease sites under image guidance. Thin and dexterous, these mm-scale “tentacle-like” robots elastically wind around and through delicate anatomy, minimizing damage. I will also describe recent work toward building legged endoscopic “pill-cam” robots that will be swallowable and capable of locomotion and/or direct surgical intervention in the GI tract. For each of the above systems, I will present recent results at the Vanderbilt Medical and Electromechanical Design Lab on design, kinematic modeling, and control, highlighting the non-traditional ways we utilize physical principles to achieve dexterous robotic motion.