The ISU Bionics Lab is an interdisciplinary research and development lab focused on creating high-performance, affordable assistive technologies that address real human needs. Housed at Iowa State University, the lab brings together students and collaborators from human physiology, biomedical engineering, neuroscience, design, and computer science to work at the intersection of biology, technology, and lived experience. The lab’s work centers on physical disability and motor function, with projects ranging from EMG- and EEG-driven prosthetics to sensor-based interfaces and rehabilitation-focused systems. Rather than pursuing novelty for its own sake, the lab emphasizes functional outcomes, accessibility, and translational impact, building technologies that people can realistically use in everyday life.
A core mission of the ISU Bionics Lab is education through making. Students engage directly in hands-on research, iterative prototyping, and real-world problem solving, often working with clinicians, community partners, and end users. Many projects are developed as open or low-cost designs to reduce barriers to access and to counter the exclusivity that often characterizes advanced assistive technology. The lab also serves as a training ground for future researchers, engineers, and clinicians, embedding ethical reflection, disability perspectives, and systems-level thinking into technical work. Through this model, the ISU Bionics Lab functions not only as a research lab, but as an innovation ecosystem—one that prepares students to build technologies that restore agency, expand independence, and reflect the complexity of human bodies and lives.
More than 50 students have participated in Bionics Lab over the previous seven years. Many of them start work as freshmen and stay through senior year. Graduates of ISU Bionics Lab have moved on to jobs in biomedical engineering, internships at NASA, medical, dental school, physical therapy, and graduate school.
Additive Manufacturing
3D printing child-sized prosthetic hands is a critical focus of the ISU Bionics Lab because traditional pediatric prosthetics are prohibitively expensive and quickly outgrown. Children may need multiple replacements as they grow, turning a single device into a recurring financial burden for families and healthcare systems. By using 3D printing and modular designs, the lab can rapidly fabricate lightweight, customizable prosthetic hands at a fraction of the cost of commercial devices, enabling frequent resizing, iterative improvement, and personalization. This approach not only reduces cost, but also increases adoption and long-term use by allowing devices to evolve alongside the child rather than being treated as static, short-term solutions.
Figure 1. Prototype child sized prosthetic hand made at ISU.
Electromyography Driven Bionic Hand
EMG (electromyography) sensors allow traditional body-powered prosthetics to be upgraded into myoelectric or hybrid devices by translating muscle activation directly into control signals for powered movement. Surface EMG electrodes detect the electrical activity of residual muscles during intended motion and map those signals to motors or actuators, reducing the physical effort required to operate the device. This approach preserves the simplicity, reliability, and affordability of body-powered designs while adding powered assistance for grip strength, endurance, and fine control. By augmenting existing mechanical systems rather than replacing them entirely, EMG-enabled prosthetics lower cost, reduce user fatigue, and create adaptable devices that can evolve alongside the user, an especially important advantage for children and first-time prosthetic users.
Figure 2. Early prototyping to covert a body powered prosthetic hand into a myoelectric device with a simple EMG sensor.
Electroencephalography Driven Bionic Devices
Figure 3. Child wearing one of our lab's electroencephalography (EEG) headsets.
While EMG-based control is effective for detecting muscle activation, it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve intuitive multi-gesture control and complex articulations as prosthetic function expands. Surface EMG signals are often noisy, affected by muscle crosstalk, fatigue, and electrode placement, which limits the number of distinct, reliable control states available to the user. To address these constraints, the ISU Bionics Lab has transitioned toward EEG-based (electroencephalography) control strategies for advanced applications. In this approach, machine-learning models are trained to associate specific mental commands or imagined movements with prosthetic gestures, enabling more flexible, scalable control without requiring additional physical effort. This shift supports richer articulation, reduces dependency on residual musculature, and opens new pathways for intuitive prosthetic control, particularly for users with limited muscle access or complex motor needs.
We started this work by trying to control more simple robots as proof of concept (and because it's fun). Our first EEG driven device was a rover that can start, stop, and turn in response to mental commands.
Figure 4. Bionics lab manager and Mechanical Engineering graduate, Jaden, controlling one of our rovers with EEG.
NASA Sponsored Flex Sensor Driven Device
The following project is based upon work supported by the Iowa Space Grant Consortium under NASA Award No. 80NSSC20M0107.
During the academic years of 2024 and 2025, the ISU Bionics Lab was funded by the Iowa Space Grant Consortium to develop and implement a flex-sensor glove interface as part of its hands-on, project-based curriculum in biomedical engineering and robotics. Students designed and built the glove using embedded flex sensors, microcontrollers, and custom control code to capture finger and hand movements and translate them into real-time actuation of robotic hands. The system was successfully integrated with the lab’s 3D-printed robotic prosthetic hands, enabling reliable, low-latency control of multi-finger articulation through natural human motion rather than abstract inputs. This work directly supports the goals of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate by advancing intuitive, human-centered control systems for dexterous remote manipulation, which is a critical capability for future space exploration, in-space servicing, and hazardous-environment operations. Double click the picture to the left to expand the flex sensor glove video.
The completed flex-sensor glove demonstrates an intuitive, low-cost approach to complex robotic control that is accessible to students while remaining technically robust. By mapping natural hand movements directly to robotic motion, the project highlights the effectiveness of human-centered control strategies for achieving fine motor articulation without requiring advanced signal processing or extensive training. This work validates the lab’s educational and technical model, using biomedical sensing and iterative prototyping to produce functional, scalable systems, and provides a strong foundation for future extensions involving biosignals and machine-learning-based control methods aligned with NASA’s ongoing investments in advanced human–robot interfaces.
2026 Bionics Lab Projects
This year in Bionics Lab students are working on a range of exciting new projects, including soft robotics, AI-controlled systems, assistive devices for dysgraphia. Bionics Lab regularly accepts First Year Honors Students from the ISU Honors Program as well as other interested students. If you wish to know more, please contact the lab Director, Dr. Karri Haen Whitmer, at khaen@iastate.edu.
Bionics Lab in the Press
https://news.engineering.iastate.edu/2024/11/13/the-bionics-making-woman/
https://startsomething.cals.iastate.edu/facultyfellow/karri-haen-whitmer