dr Patrick van der Smagt
Head of Bionics Group
Institute Info Manager
Associate editor of Neural Networks
DLR / Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics
- P.O.Box 1116 - 82230 Wessling / Germany
Ph.:+49 8153 281152
Fax.:+49 8153 281134
E-mail: smagt(at)dlr.de

In the Press

Popular Media:
pinc, May 18, 2009, "biorobotics"
Het Financieele Dagblad, May, 2009
Discovery Channel, April 2009: "Future Homes"
3Sat, April 22, 2007: "Z wie Zukunft"
RTLII, March, 2007: "Welt der Wunder"
Pro7, Nov. 5, 2006: "Wunderwelt Wissen"
Abendzeitung, Oct. 28, 2006: Bestnoten für Forscher und Unternehmen
ZDF: Heute Journal, Sep. 15, 2006: Interview
ORF: "Newton" Science report, April 30, 2006: report on advanced prostheses
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Mar. 03, 2006: "Künstliche Hand am Computer entwickelt"
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Jan. 26, 2006: "Direkter Draht zum Hirn"

Scientific press:
A selection of downloadable papers is here.

Research Projects

...to follow nature as my teacher... (says Tom Rakewell, as to W.H. Auden in Strawinski's "The Rake's Progress")

My line of research focuses on the DLR Human Arm Project. This project, to which no webpage is yet dedicated, constructs a hand-arm system that resembles the human hand with arm in their dynamic and kinematic properties as closely as possible. In short, we want a robotic hand with arm to be as dexterous as their human counterpart.

There are many issues involved in constructing such a system, and not all of these concentrate on the mechatronics of such a device.  That is a topic in itself which is not covered here.

The bionics group poses and answers these questions.

We were and are funded by various sources, including the following EC projects: NEUROBOTICS - SENSOPAC - STIFF - THE - VIACTORS