Patrick Franks Email & Phone Number

Palo Alto, CA, US

San Francisco, US

Skip is the first “e-bike for walking”: an ultralight exoskeleton that could be a beautiful, intuitive and transformative product to help a billion people be more active and healthy. I develop the ML-powered controllers that detect and assist users as they move throughout the world. I also lead our research in assisting users with mobility impairments.

Mountain View, CA, US

• Researching and developing wearable robots for an early-stage project exploring how a mix of textiles,robotics, and AI/ML might help people with mobility challenges.
• Conducting user experience testing with over 50 users to provide prototype feedback for design team.
• Designing and executing data collection protocols for training machine learning models and evaluatingon-device model performance.
• Writing and tuning robot control algorithms with a combination of classical controls and ML.

Stanford, CA, US

• I studied how human-in-the-loop optimization, which matches robotic algorithms with human-centered metrics, can find controllers that are most helpful for a user. I studied the biomechanical changes to the user's.
• Conducted human-in-the-loop optimization of whole-leg exoskeleton assistance during walking,leading to the largest improvement to the metabolic cost of walking to date.
• Compared optimized assistance across different walking speeds, grades, and worn loads to understandhow exoskeleton assistance should change in novel walking environments.
• Used biomechanical analysis techniques to understand how users adapt to robotic assistance.
• Conducted experimental validation of biomechanical simulations to improve our musculoskeletalmodeling techniques.

Pittsburgh, PA, US

PhD Student in the Experimental Biomechatronics Laboratory, directed by Steven H. Collins, PhD. Designed and built a bilateral lower limb exoskeleton emulator system. Lab moved to Stanford University in Fall of 2017.

Chicago, Illinois, US

Research intern in Dr. Elliott Rouse's Neurobionics Lab, a part of RIC's Center for Bionic Medicine. Developed mechatronic systems and low level motor controller code for a knee prosthesis.

Chicago, Illinois, US

Research intern in Dr. Wendy Murray's Applied Research in Musculoskeletal Simulation Lab, a part of RIC's Sensory Motor Performance Program. Conducted extended field-of-view ultrasound for muscle fascicle measurement in the forearm.

Chicago, Illinois, US

Research intern in Dr. Li-Qun Zhang's Biodynamics Lab, a part of the Sensory Motor Performance Program at the RIC. I used the lab's rehabilitation robots to investigate spasticity and joint dynamics in children with cerebral palsy and adults who have had a stroke.

Laurel, Maryland, US

Intern in the Department of Research and Exploratory Development (REDD). I constructed and tested multiple small UAV designs investigating material properties.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Biomedical/Medical Engineering