Biomechanical Engineering Lab
Simulating and enhancing human movement
About the Lab
The Biomechanical Engineering Lab (BIOMEC) is a research group of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and one of the seven areas of the Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering (CREB). The mission of the lab is twofold. We develop multibody biomechanical models to analyse and simulate the dynamics of human movement, for clinical and sport applications; and we design personalised robotic devices for movement assistance and rehabilitation.
The lab has a fully equipped motion analysis laboratory that includes an 18-camera motion capture system, 2 force plates, a 16-channel electromyography (EMG) system, and an in-shoe pressure measurement system. The lab also has a complete workshop where researchers and students design and build in-house all the developed mechatronic prototypes.
Current research projects focus on the development of personalised robotic exoskeletons to assist the gait of spinal cord injured subjects, as well as on the analysis of human movement to assess the outcomes of clinical interventions and treatments. The group also does research in other fundamental topics of mechanical engineering and robotics. Lab members are mechanical and biomedical engineers that work closely with clinical and industrial partners to translate the developed technologies into products that meet real world needs.
The BIOMEC Lab actively collaborates with international institutions like McGill University, Rice University and TU Darmstadt. Moreover, we have recently founded our first spin-off ABLE Human Motion, which is focused on transferring to market the first lightweight, easy-to-use and affordable exoskeleton for people with spinal cord injury that restores the ability to walk naturally and intuitively.
Recent News
BIOMEC participated in the 4th International Multibody System Dynamics Workshop & Summer School in Milano
The Multibody Dynamics Workshop is an annual workshop jointly organised by Politecnico di Milano and Università di [...]
CREB’s researcher, Josep Maria Font, at the 18th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control
The International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control (MSNDC) is held annually [...]
The BIOMEC Lab participated at the ESB 2022 Congress in Porto
The BIOMEC Lab participated in the 27th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics, [...]
The BIOMEC Lab participated at the International Congress Duchenne Parent Project España
The objective of this annual meeting is to inform patients, families and researchers on [...]
BIOMEC is involved in the design of a hybrid exoskeleton for spinal cord injuries
The Biomechanical Engineering Lab (BIOMEC) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC) participates, together with the [...]
New journal article “Evaluation of Optimal Control Approaches for Predicting Active Knee-Ankle-Foot-Orthosis Motion for Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury”
Míriam Febrer and Josep Maria Font, from the BIOMEC Lab, have published the paper [...]