Michael Normand Email & Phone Number

I am a perfectionist by nature and a procrastinator at heart. Together I am the perfect storm of cramming in last minute projects whenever deadlines arrive. I got away with this for years on end, up until my latest passion: Robots.Years ago I had the opportunity to perform the task of gravity compensation on a robot arm. I had very little idea of what I was doing, having to learn c++, vector calculations, and robot kinematics on the spot. Finally I had done it: my robot could hold itself up properly, perfectly still even.I was hooked. I began theorizing how we humans can stand so well without thinking. Walking even? The math of dynamic motion was fascinating yet mastered long ago. This led me to biomechanics research for gait analysis. What does it mean to be balanced? What does it mean to walk? I eventually began to quantify my robot’s ability to perform tasks as a comparison of a human child’s age. Currently I believe I can make a robot that could compete with a 6-month-old. On a good day… probably.Naturally being fascinated with humans and robots led me to exoskeletons. Now I am doing work on creating the best teleoperation rig ever. Full immersion of the human into whatever they may control: a virtual avatar, an industrial robot arm, or even a humanoid robot. It has brought me into the haptics space. Quantifying touch is fascinating! Quantifying performance for teleoperation is exhilarating! There is so much math that I have yet to understand.Here’s to the future! Here’s to more math!