Post-Doctoral Fellow
Imperial College London
White CIty Campus
W12 0BZ London, UK
Office: 416 UREN - Sir Michael Uren Building
Email: s.abeywardena@imperial.ac.uk
Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering, Monash University, Australia
Bachelor of Mechatronic Engineering (First Class Hons.), University of Adelaide, Australia
Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Science, University of Adelaide, Australia
About me
I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Human Robotics Group, Imperial College London. Prior to joining HRG, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Bristol Robotics Laboratory, UK involved in the EU Horizon 2020 Project SMARTsurg. In this role, I investigated the use of anthropomorphism in the design and control of surgical instruments for master-slave Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery. My PhD studies were conducted in the Laboratory for Motion Generation and Analysis, Monash University where I conducted a theoretical investigation into a novel six-dof parallel mechanism and its suitability to be utilised as a force feedback haptic device.
My research aim is to develop technology for the benefit and advancement of society; specifically, applications with humans in the loop. Concurrently, I believe that the use of fundamental mechanism theory is imperative to the development of elegant solutions to complex engineering problems. As such, my interest lies in utilising my expertise in mechanism theory and motion analysis to investigate and develop the use of mechanisms for physical Human-Robot Interaction. Through my current position in HRG, I am exploring my research ambitions by developing haptic mechanisms for motor skill acquisition with an emphasis on handwriting via the EU Horizon 2020 Project CONBOTS. Further, within the EU Horizon 2020 framework NIMA, I am researching supernumerary limbs to augment human motion capabilities with a focus on balance control and human safety factors.
Selected Publications
S. Abeywardena, E. Psomopoulou, M.F. Sani, A. Tzemanaki and S. Dogramadzi (2020), `Control of a da Vinci EndoWrist instrument using a novel master controller'. XV Mediterranean Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing—MEDICON 2019, pp. 1545–1550. IFMBE Proceedings, vol 76. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-31635-8_191
S. Abeywardena, Q. Yuan, A. Tzemanaki, E. Psomopoulou, L. Droukas, C. Melhuish and S. Dogramadzi (2019), `Estimation of tool-tissue forces in Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery using neural networks', Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 6, Article 56. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2019.00056
S. Abeywardena and C. Chen (2017), `Implementation and evaluation of a three-legged six-degrees-of-freedom parallel mechanism as an impedance-type haptic device', IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 22(3), pp. 1412–1422. doi: 10.1109/TMECH.2017.2682930
S. Abeywardena and C. Chen (2017), `Inverse dynamic modelling of a three-legged six-degree-of-freedom parallel mechanism'', Multibody System Dynamics, 41(1), pp. 1–24. doi: 10.1007/s11044-016-9506-y