Alex Savard's physical work.
Robotic Orthosis
Honeybee Robotics | 2014-2015
In February of 2014, in partnership with NYU Poly and the Hospital for Special Surgery, Honeybee Robotics secured a Phase 1 SBIR Award to develop a “Discrete Personal Assistance Orthotic Walking Aid.” Despite the project’s complex title our challenge was conceptually simple: using the latest robotic technology, build a leg orthosis that could amplify the strength of the user to help them walk. Over the next year, I would serve as Honeybee’s principal researcher conducting clinical, market and user research as we worked to understand & define our challenge. Additionally, I would serve as the lead designer and mechanical engineer as we moved from concept to physical prototype. Due to the project’s ambitious nature, its potential benefit, and my involvement at every level, this is the project I am most proud of.
Mini Inspection Robot
Honeybee Robotics | 2012-2015
Natural gas supplies nearly a quarter of all of the energy used in the US. That gas is delivered through 2.2 million miles of piping underneath our feet. [1] Because of the inherent risk of explosion, these carrier pipes & their case pipes must be routinely inspected for corrosion. Timely, effective, inspection can prevent catastrophes like the 2010 San Bruno explosion that claimed eight lives. While working at Honeybee Robotics, I was privileged to work with a team of talented engineers to reimagine how these inspections could be conducted. From my earliest days at Honeybee, I was involved in the core engineering of the bots. But more significantly, I was responsible for envisioning how to the system would be operated (the operator experience) and how the system could eventually scale into production.
Mini Surgical Robot
Honeybee Robotics | 2012-2015
While working at Honeybee Robotics, I was privileged to be part of an extraordinary team of engineers that designed & built a miniature surgical robotics platform for the Virtual Incision Corporation. Although I was not directly involved with the core engineering, I worked as a UX researcher, an industrial designer, & a photographer. (that’s my hand)