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Our lab's research lies at the intersection of artificial intelligence, rehabilitation robotics and machine learning.

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It is an irony that often the more severe a person's motor impairment, the more challenging it is for them to operate the very assistive machines which might enhance their quality of life. A primary aim of the assistive & rehabilitation robotics laboratory (argallab) is to address this confound by incorporating robotics autonomy and intelligence into assistive machines---turning the machine into a kind of robot, and offloading some of the control burden from the user to the machine. Robots already synthetically sense, act in and reason about the world, and these technologies can be leveraged to help bridge the gap left by sensory, motor or cognitive impairments in people who use assistive machines.

A distinguishing theme present within many of our projects is that the machine automation is customizable---to a user's physical abilities, personal preferences or even financial means. A fundamental question that arises time and again throughout many of our projects is how exactly to share control between the robot and the human user.

We are working with a range of hardware platforms, from smart wheelchairs to assistive robotic arms. More information about our research projects can be found here.

By easing the control burden of assistive machines, the argallab strives to advance human ability and autonomy through robotics autonomy.

For a more in-depth overview of what we are about, check out Dr. Argall's seminar: