Bio-inspired smart joints and robotic limbs with Bristol Robotics Laboratory

Leonardo was fascinated with the skeleton and muscles, and how this complex machinery enables us to move.

Drop in to the Leonardo exhibition and the schools room on the first floor of Bristol Museum & Art Gallery to find out more about the future of biomechanics, handle some artificial joints, and see some of the robotics in action.

You can draw a direct line of influence from the kind of work he pioneered, to new developments in bio-mechanics today. Even though commonly known and recognised as an artist, Leonardo’s genius went beyond art and embraced the engineering field for which he wanted to create new machines for a new world.

Leonardo was a proficient inventor of both practical and theoretical inventions. Thanks to his artistic talents, he recorded numerous mechanical ideas with such attention to detail and clarity that working models could be created and allowing us to continue celebrating his accomplishments today.

Chisel Robotics develops smart wearable devices to enhance quality of life for disabled people and amputees. By understanding human gait, they ‘train’ deep learning algorithms to anticipate and support patients’ needs.

Rose Industries researches how electromyography sensors (EMGs) can react to the subtle movements of human muscles, helping design robotic systems including artificial legs and joint sockets.

Both companies work closely with Dr Appolinaire Etoundi, Senior Lecturer in Mechatronics, whose research work revolves around the extraction and application of advantageous design concepts found in biological systems to optimise existing engineering and rehabilitation devices at the world-leading Bristol Robotics Laboratory, a joint partnership between the University of the West of England and University of Bristol.