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The “Laboratoire d’Automatique, de Mécanique et d’Informatique industrielles et Humaines” (LAMIH UMR CNRS 8201) of the University of Valenciennes (France) (http://www.univ-valenciennes.fr/LAMIH/) is looking for a highly motivated individual for a post-doctoral research fellowship.
Program Title
“Customized assistance for persons with reduced mobility” (PA-PMR)
Scientific context
It is well-recognized that the use of manual wheelchair can lead to upper extremities trauma. In this case, rest is then advocated. However, hypoactivity can induce muscle atrophy and then result in physical deconditioning of the wheelchair user. To avoid this problem, a good compromise can be found in an electrically assisted wheelchair, which role is to amplify the force transmitted by the user. When properly settled, this type of system provides an undeniable support for mobility. However, health scalability, which can be sometimes very fast, and the presence of cognitive impairments in some persons with reduced mobility can highlight the limits of current devices. In addition, existing assisted wheelchairs do not meet the different needs of users due to very heterogeneous motor and/or cognitive impairments.
The PA-PMR project
The main goals of the present project focus on the development of new systems of adaptation and personalization of the electric assistance for manual wheelchairs. The aim is to promote the mobility of persons with reduced mobility and also to preserve their health by providing an original assistance offering a good compromise between comfort and physical stress. In this framework, the first objective is to adapt the assistance to the scalable and heterogeneous motor disabilities and, to a lesser extent, to cognitive impairments of persons with reduced mobility. The second objective concerns the estimation of the mobility intent of the wheelchair user.
Postdoctoral position
The postdoctoral fellow will have to propose, test and validate experimental design(s) necessary for the measurements campaign. This will be done in cooperation with the research engineer of the LAMIH lab. The postdoctoral fellow will have to take part to the measurements campaign and then to be able, from the data then obtained, to characterize and model the observed movements in order to validate the proposed assistance. In addition, he or she will have to complete human body models already developed in the LAMIH lab to infer unobservable kinetics data specific to this project.
Fellowship duration
12 months
Eligibility
The postdoctoral fellow must have proven experience in the analysis and modeling of human movements. Thus, he or she must master a) instrumentation for capturing kinematics and kinetics of human movement, b) mechanical modeling of the human body and c) statistical modeling of human movements.
Interested applicants should send a letter indicating their interest and experience, a CV, and copies of representative publications via e-mail to the contacts below.
Contacts
Philippe PUDLO, Philippe.Pudlo@univ-valenciennes.fr
Emilie SIMONEAU, Emilie.Simoneau@univ-valenciennes
LAMIH UMR CNRS 8201 - Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis, Valenciennes, FRANCE
Program Title
“Customized assistance for persons with reduced mobility” (PA-PMR)
Scientific context
It is well-recognized that the use of manual wheelchair can lead to upper extremities trauma. In this case, rest is then advocated. However, hypoactivity can induce muscle atrophy and then result in physical deconditioning of the wheelchair user. To avoid this problem, a good compromise can be found in an electrically assisted wheelchair, which role is to amplify the force transmitted by the user. When properly settled, this type of system provides an undeniable support for mobility. However, health scalability, which can be sometimes very fast, and the presence of cognitive impairments in some persons with reduced mobility can highlight the limits of current devices. In addition, existing assisted wheelchairs do not meet the different needs of users due to very heterogeneous motor and/or cognitive impairments.
The PA-PMR project
The main goals of the present project focus on the development of new systems of adaptation and personalization of the electric assistance for manual wheelchairs. The aim is to promote the mobility of persons with reduced mobility and also to preserve their health by providing an original assistance offering a good compromise between comfort and physical stress. In this framework, the first objective is to adapt the assistance to the scalable and heterogeneous motor disabilities and, to a lesser extent, to cognitive impairments of persons with reduced mobility. The second objective concerns the estimation of the mobility intent of the wheelchair user.
Postdoctoral position
The postdoctoral fellow will have to propose, test and validate experimental design(s) necessary for the measurements campaign. This will be done in cooperation with the research engineer of the LAMIH lab. The postdoctoral fellow will have to take part to the measurements campaign and then to be able, from the data then obtained, to characterize and model the observed movements in order to validate the proposed assistance. In addition, he or she will have to complete human body models already developed in the LAMIH lab to infer unobservable kinetics data specific to this project.
Fellowship duration
12 months
Eligibility
The postdoctoral fellow must have proven experience in the analysis and modeling of human movements. Thus, he or she must master a) instrumentation for capturing kinematics and kinetics of human movement, b) mechanical modeling of the human body and c) statistical modeling of human movements.
Interested applicants should send a letter indicating their interest and experience, a CV, and copies of representative publications via e-mail to the contacts below.
Contacts
Philippe PUDLO, Philippe.Pudlo@univ-valenciennes.fr
Emilie SIMONEAU, Emilie.Simoneau@univ-valenciennes
LAMIH UMR CNRS 8201 - Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut-Cambrésis, Valenciennes, FRANCE