Elena García Armada Explained

Elena García Armada
Birth Place:	Valladolid, Spain
Occupation:	Engineer, roboticist
Education:	Technical University of Madrid
Website:	https://car.upm-csic.es/author/?id=7402249975

Elena Garcia Armada (b. 1971 Valladolid, Spain) is a Spanish researcher, roboticist, business founder and industrial engineer who leads the CSIC group at the Center for Automation and Robotics, (CAR) CSIC-UPM^[1] that has developed the first bionic exoskeleton for children with spinal muscular atrophy, for which she received the European Inventor Award Popular Prize in 2022.^[2]

Early life and education

Elena Garcia Armada was born in Valladolid, Spain in 1971. She received a doctorate in robotic engineering in 2002 from the Polytechnic University of Madrid by her work “Optimizing the speed and stability of legged robots in natural environments”.^[3] She began a career in industry-orientated robotics at the Center for Automation and Robotics, (CAR) CSIC-UPM, as a postdoctoral research fellow.^[4] She completed her training at the Leg Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[5]

Daniela

In 2009, Garcia met Daniela, a six-year-old girl who had become tetraplegic as a result of a traffic accident.^[6] Garcia became determined to engineer paediatric robotic exoskeletons, which were not available in medicine at the time. The goal of these exoskeletons was to provide gait assistance to contribute to the rehabilitation of injured children or children suffering from degenerative neuromuscular diseases.

Career

Garcia continues to work for CAR as a Tenured senior scientist within the Centre for Automation and Robotics (CSIC-UPM). She leads her own research group creating artificial legs and quadrupeds developing versatile artificial muscles.^[5] The aim of the groups research is to improve the performance of legged robots, including, active compliance in foot-ground interaction, developing new actuators, improving dynamic stability, and designing and controlling agile quadrupeds and lower-limb exoskeletons for mobility aid.^[5]

Garcia cofounded Marsi Bionics in 2013 as a spin-off of CAR. It builds adjustable paediatric exoskeletons that incorporate small motors to mimic muscle movements and provide the person with the strength to walk.

During her Career, Garcia has published 80 international scientific articles and one book on legged locomotion. Additionally, Garcia is a member of the editorial board of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.^[5]

Awards and honors

In 2020, Robohub (an online communication platform about robotics) considered Garcia as one of the "30 women in robotics you need to know about".^[7]
In 2021, she received the Community of Madrid "Fermina Orduña" Technological Innovation Award,^[8] and a Honorable Mention as Industrial Engineer of the Year from Colegio de Ingenieros Industriales de Madrid (COIIM).^[9]
In 2022, she received the Red Cross Gold Medal,^[10] a Special Mention in the I UICM Professional Woman Awards^[11] and the Business Insiders "Better Capitalism Top Insiders 2022" Award.^[12] In June 2022 she received the European Inventor Award Popular Prize,^[2] awarded by the European Patent Office (EPO), for her paediatric exoskeleton design.^[13]
In February 2023, Garcia was named Doctor honoris causa by Miguel de Cervantes European University, in Valladolid.^[14]
In March 2023, she received a "Premio Nacional de Discapacidad Reina Letizia" Research and Innovation Award from Government of Spain Ministry of Social Affairs (Spain)^[15] and the Community of Madrid acknowledged Garcia with a Technology Award in "Reconocimientos 8 de Marzo a mujeres destacadas por su talento y liderazgo".^[16]
In July 2022, the Spanish Federation of Executive, Professional and Managerial Women (FEDEPE) acknowledged Garcia with the Leadership Professional Woman Award.^[17]

Research and publications

Books

• Book: García Armada . Elena . Los Robots y sus capacidades . 2022 . Madrid : Editorial CSIC Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas . Los Libros de la Catarata . 84-1352-394-X . 140. es.
• Book: García Armada . Elena . Robots . 2015 . Madrid : Editorial CSIC Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas . Los Libros de la Catarata . 978-84-00-09914-5 . 94. es.
• Book: Gonzalez de Santos . Pablo. Garcia . Elena . Estremera . Joaquin . Quadrupedal Locomotion . 2006 . Springer-Verlag London Limited . 978-1-84628-307-9 . 277.

Research articles

• Garcia Armada . E . Robots que caminan . Investigación y Ciencia . February 2009 . 389 . 8–9.
• Garcia . E . González de Santos . P . Soft computing techniques for improving foot trajectories in walking machines . Journal of Robotic Systems . 2001 . 18 . 343–356. 10.1002/rob.1028 . 10261/7888 . free .
• Garcia Armada . E . González de Santos . P . Canudas de Wit . C . Velocity dependence in the cyclic friction arising with gears . The International Journal of Robotics Research . 2002 . 21 . 9 . 761–771. 10.1177/0278364902021009877 . 1411236 . 10261/7864 . free .
• Garcia Armada . E . Estremera . J . Gonzalez de Santos . P . A comparative study on stability margins for walking machines . Robotica . 2002 . 20 . 6 . 595–606. 10.1017/S0263574702004502 . 28590143 . 10261/8219 . free .
• Garcia Armada . E . Galvez . J.A. . Gonzalez de Santos . P . On finding the relevant dynamics for model based controlling walking robots . Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems . 2003 . 37 . 4 . 375–398. 10.1023/A:1026104815610 . 32158349 .
• Garcia Armada . E . González de Santos . P . Mobile Robot Navigation with Complete Coverage of Unstructured Environments. . Robotics and Autonomous Systems . 2004 . 46 . 4 . 195–204. 10.1016/j.robot.2004.02.005 . 10261/12814 . free .
• Garcia Armada . E . González de Santos . P . An improved energy stability margin for walking machines subject to dynamic effects . Robotica . 2005 . 23 . 1 . 13–20. 10.1017/S0263574704000487 . 6669366 .
• Garcia Armada . E . González de Santos . P . On the Improvement of Walking Performance in Natural Environments by a Compliant Adaptive Gait . IEEE Transactions on Robotics . 2006 . 22 . 6 . 1240–1253. 10.1109/TRO.2006.884343 . 1629387 . 10261/7869 . free .
• Garcia Armada . E . Jiménez . M.A. . Gonzalez de Santos . P . Armada . M.A. . The Evolution of Robotics Research from Industrial Robotics to Field and Service Robotics . IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine . 2007 . 14 . 1 . 90–103. 10.1109/MRA.2007.339608 . 16854708 .
• Garcia Armada . E . González de Santos . P . Matia . F . Dealing with Internal and External Perturbations on Walking Robots . Autonomous Robots . 2008 . 24 . 3 . 213–227. 10.1007/s10514-007-9079-y . 36269354 .
• Garcia Armada . E . Arevalo . J.C. . Muñoz . G . Gonzalez de Santos . P . Combining series-elastic actuation and magneto-rheological damping for the control of agile locomotion . Robotics and Autonomous Systems . 2011 . 59 . 10 . 827–839. 10.1016/j.robot.2011.06.006 .
• Garcia Armada . E . Arevalo . J.C. . Muñoz . G . Gonzalez de Santos . P . On the Biomimetic Design of Agile-Robot Legs . Sensors . 2011 . 11 . 12 . 11305–11334 . 10.3390/s111211305 . 22247667 . 3251984 . 2011Senso..1111305G . free .
• Garcia Armada . E . González de Santos . P . Modular and versatile platform for the benchmarking of modern actuators for robots . Smart Structures and Systems . 2013 . 11 . 2 . 135–161 . 10.12989/sss.2013.11.2.135 .
• Garcia Armada . E . Arevalo . J . Cestari . M . Sanz-Merodio . D . On the technological instantiation of a biomimetic leg concept for agile locomotion . ASME Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics . 2015 . 7 . 3.
• Sanz-Merodio . D . Puyuelo . G . Ganguly . A . Garces . E . Goñi . A . Garcia . E . EXOtrainer Project Clinical Evaluation of Gait Training with Exoskeleton in Children with Spinal Muscular Atrophy . Advances in Robotics Research: From Lab to Market . 2020 . 132 . 211–227 . 10.1007/978-3-030-22327-4_10. 10261/226193 . free .

External links

• • Marsi Bionics

Notes and References

1. Web site: CAR (CSIC-UPM) . Centre for Automation and Robotics . 23 May 2024.
2. Web site: All the winners: European Inventor Award 2022 . 23 May 2024.
3. Web site: Optimización de la estabilidad y la velocidad de robots caminantes . Tesis doctorales: TESEO . 23 May 2024 . es.
4. Web site: Biography of Elena García, Spanish computer Scientist. Salient Women . 10 June 2020 . Salientwomen.com . 22 May 2024.
5. Web site: Elena García Armada. Biography at CAR (CSIC-UPM). 23 May 2024.
6. Web site: Elena Garcia Armada . Entre Cientificas . Fundación Séneca-Agencia de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Región de Murcia. 22 May 2024. en.
7. Web site: 30 women in robotics you need to know about – 2020 . Robohub . 23 May 2024 . en.
8. News: Elena García Armada (CAR, CSIC-UPM), “Fermina Orduña” 2021 Technological Innovation Award of the Community of Madrid . 23 May 2024 . RoboCity2030.org.
9. News: Llegan las Menciones Honoríficas 2021, ¿quieres conocer a los premiados? . 23 May 2024 . Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros Industriales de Madrid . es.
10. News: S.M. la Reina entrega las Medallas de Oro de Cruz Roja . 23 May 2024 . es . Cruz Roja.
11. News: Unión Interprofesional otorga el I Premio Mujer Profesional a la primera Ingeniero de Minas de España, María Dolores Norte . 23 May 2024 . 9 March 2022. UICM. es.
12. Web site: Top Insiders 2022: El mundo cambia. Elige a los líderes que lo están transformando. . Business Insider España . 23 May 2024 . es.
13. Web site: Meet the finalists. Elena Garcia Armada.. EPO . 23 May 2024.
14. Web site: La experta internacional en robótica Elena García Armada, Doctora Honoris Causa por la UEMC. 10 February 2023. 23 May 2024. Universidad Europea Miguel de Cervantes. es.
15. Web site: Luis Cayo y la investigadora Elena García Armada, entre los galardonados con los Premios Nacionales de Discapacidad. 23 May 2024. Europa Press. 24 March 2023. es.
16. News: La Comunidad de Madrid entrega los Reconocimientos 8 de Marzo a mujeres destacadas por su talento y liderazgo. Comunidad de Madrid. 13 March 2023. 23 May 2024. es.
17. News: Reconocimiento a las mujeres en la vanguardia española de la robótica, la inteligencia artificial, la investigación biomédica y la gestión cultural. 23 May 2024. 13 July 2023. FEDEPE. es.