Page 33 - Winter 2026

David Blaauw of the University of Michigan adds: requires only a trained medical professional to gain University of Huddersfield hosts Robotics
arterial access before the Challenge Final
“ We saw that Penn Engineering’s propulsion
remote expert performs the thrombectomy.
system and our tiny electronic computers were just The University of Huddersfield has hosted a Science
made for each other. Professor Grunwald states: and Technology Challenge regional robotics final
designed to enhance interest in studying STEM
We designed a special computer instruction “ As a neurointerventionist, it is remarkable to feel
that encodes a value, such as the measured the same fine control and resistance through subjects.
temperature, in the wiggles of a little dance the a robotic interface as during a live procedure. The event involved 22 students from 11 different
robot performs. We then look at this dance through Sentante’s technology truly bridges the gap schools representing overall winning teams from
a microscope with a camera and decode from the between operator and patient, no matter the earlier Challenge Days, which are organised by MCS
wiggles what the robots are saying to us. It’s very distance. Sentante’s robotic platform redefines Projects across the UK for high-achieving Year 8
similar to how honey bees communicate with each what is possible in endovascular treatment “. and 9 students. Last summer MCS Projects held 28
other “. Science and Technology Challenge Days involving
Edvardas Satkauskas, Co-founder and CEO of
Reference: Wood, A., ‘Meet the World’s smallest, programmable some 182 schools and 2,184 students.
Sentante, adds:
Autonomous Robots’, Electronic Specifier, 16th. March.
“ The human cadaveric models at Dundee are
Remote Robotic Surgery for Stroke Treatment: fantastic. This is the reason we have worked with
them - this is probably the only site in the world
World First for Dundee University
that can do this type of research “.
The University of Dundee has achieved a
Reference: Hookway, P., ‘Remote Robotic Surgery offers new Hope for
world first by participating in the first ever
Stroke Treatment’, Electronic Specifier, 11th. November.
robotic transatlantic thrombectomy only two
hours after Professor Iris Grunwald, Director of
World’s First Humanoid Robot Combat League
the Image Guided Therapy Research Facility
performed the first ever remote thrombectomy China has launched the world’s first humanoid
on a human cadaver at the School of Medicine robot combat league, known as the Ultimate Robot
at Ninewells Hospital. Knockout Legend, or URKL.
Using a robot developed by Lithuanian
MedTech company Sentante, Professor Grunwald
demonstrated that a blood clot could be successfully
removed from the brain without a specialist being
physically present. Later, Ricardo Hanel MD, PhD, in
conjunction with Professor Grunwald, performed the
first transatlantic thrombectomy at the IGTRF from the
Baptist Medical Centre in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Sentante system uses standard guidewires and
catheters linked to a device with a high-resolution
sensory system that captures the specialist’s hand
movements. The robot at the patient’s bedside
replicates these in real-time. Unlike joystick-controlled In the finals the competitors were asked to program
surgical robots, this system provides direct force Lego Mindstorm Robots to navigate a 3D maze
feedback to the surgeon’s fingertips, replicating the using a combination of colour and infrared sensors.
tactile experience of manual surgery. The procedure The winning team was from the East Yorkshire and
North Lincolnshire Challenge Day with students from
Kingswood Academy and Ryedale School working
EngineAI will supply each participating team with together to earn the prizes.
its T800 robots free of charge. These robots are
EngineAI’s first heavy-duty, full-sized humanoid Dr. Karl Walton, Acting Head of the University
of Huddersfield Department for Engineering,
robots, which are 1.85 metres high and weigh 85
kilograms. They are built with 41 high-degree- comments:
of-freedom joints, a solid-state battery and an “ The theme of the day draws together the
aluminium exoskeleton, and are equipped with a increasingly important skill of computer coding
multi-sensor fusion system that enables real-time or scripting with robotics. Together these skills
environmental and rapid decision-making. They will ultimately help solve some of the ‘Ground
can perform martial arts movements such as Challenges’ that face us, including supporting our
360-degree aerial rotation and sidekicks. ageing population to have a long and healthy life
in their own homes “.
The inaugural event will follow a tiered schedule
during December 2026 and the winners will receive a Source: Electronic Specifier Student Zone, 15th. January.
10kg pure gold belt worth around $1.44 million.
Reference: Hookway, P., ‘World First Humanoid Robot Combat
League’, Electronic Specifier, 13th. February.

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