Patents
Each of these started as a lab project in Doha and ended as a granted US patent. They cover therapy toys for children with autism, safer tools for surgeons and builders, and machines that print and disinfect. Every patent below comes with a working diagram you can play with.
From filing to grant
Each bar runs from the US filing date to the grant. A hollow dot marks an earlier provisional filing, where there was one. Hover a row for the dates.
How each one works
Therapeutic learning toy
Smart robotic therapeutic learning toy
A train toy for therapy sessions with children with autism. The child and the toy take turns: the arm on the last carriage carries coal to the locomotive, and the locomotive answers with a face and a stream of bubbles. The patent also covers a projector, games and pairing with other devices.
QUQatar University
Inventors: John-John Cabibihan, Hifza Javed, Kishor Kumar Sadasivuni, Ahmad Yaser Alhaddad
The third carriage has a robot arm that lifts coal from the middle wagon and feeds the locomotive. Its base turns through about 180° and its other joints through about 120°.
Tap a carriage to read what it does. Drawn from the patent's description, not to scale.
Fingerprint liveness
Biometrics liveness detection through biocompatible capacitive sensor
A fake finger made of silicone can carry a copied fingerprint. This scanner checks for signs of life first: a pulse, read by photoplethysmography (PPG), and the capacitance of skin. Only a finger that passes both gets its fingerprint compared.
QUQatar University
Inventors: John-John Cabibihan, Kishor Kumar Sadasivuni, Ahmad Yaser Alhaddad
- 1Read the pulse and the capacitance
- 2Find the positive peaks
- 3Keep the peaks above 80% of the highest
- 4Scan the fingerprint
Accepted: a live finger, and a fingerprint on file.
Signals are drawn for illustration. The steps follow FIG. 9 and the results come from Table I.
Tool-holding prosthesis
Multifunctional tooling apparatus with non-anthropomorphic construction
A forearm prosthesis that holds everyday tools in place of a hand. A tool clicks into a shuttle lock and a push button releases it. A ball joint at the wrist sets the angle and can be locked for steady work. Spoons, screwdrivers, toothbrushes and wrenches all fit the same lock.
QUQatar University
Inventors: John-John Cabibihan, Aya Gaballa, Mohammed Mudassir
- Stump cover
- Socket
- Ball joint, with extrusions on its surface
- Shuttle lock, released by a push button
- Tool
Pick a tool and set the wrist. Drawn from FIGS. 1 to 7.
Surgical tactile sensor
Tactile sensor, a surgical instrument having the same, and a method of manufacturing the same
In keyhole surgery a surgeon holds tissue through a long grasper and loses most of the sense of touch. This thin piezoelectric film, zinc oxide in polyurethane between two electrodes, sits on the grasper jaw and turns grip force into a voltage. Calibrated with a linear actuator, the voltage followed force in a straight line.
QUQatar Foundation and Qatar University
Inventors: John-John Cabibihan, Kishor Kumar Sadasivuni, Anas Tahir, Julien Abinahed, Nikhil Navkar, Abdulla Al-Ansari
About 100 µm thick, on the jaw of a surgical grasper. Squeezing tissue bends the film and it gives out a voltage.
Points are the calibration in FIG. 5A. The line is the patent's fit, V = 0.3119 F + 0.2031, R² = 0.98. Hover a point for its values.
Hotwire cutter safety
Fast-ejection safety systems for hotwire cutters
Robot arms with a hot wire cut polystyrene foam into moulds for construction. The wire runs at 450°C or more, and the only protection used to be keeping away. This add-on watches the space around the cutter with ultrasonic sensors. When someone comes too close, a servo turns 90° and releases a compressed shield that springs out over the wire. The shield then retracts, ready for the next time.
QUQatar Foundation and Qatar University
Inventors: John-John Cabibihan, Houssam Abdulrazak, Zeyad Mansour
Drag the slider or let the person walk past. The 30 cm trigger is for illustration; the patent says only that the shield deploys when the distance reading drops low.
Challenging behavior detector
Device for detecting challenging behavior in people with autism
During a meltdown, a child with autism can get hurt. A wearable reads heart rate, sound and motion 64 times a second, and sensor modules that snap onto furniture add more readings from the room. A machine learning model picks out head banging, arm flapping, ear pulling, kicking and scratching, and sends an alert to another device. A social robot can respond as well.
QUQatar University
Inventors: John-John Cabibihan, Ahmad Yaser Alhaddad, Ahmad Qadeib Alban, Malek Ayesh, Abdulaziz Khalid Al-Ali, Kishor Kumar Sadasivuni, Hussein Aly
Higher is better. Values from Table 1 of the patent.
Four classifiers were compared on the same recordings. Pick a score, or hover a bar to see all of them.
Multi-layer 2D printing
Automated multi-layer two-dimensional printing
Thin film devices such as solar cells are built one layer at a time. Here four supply tanks feed a single deposition tank through peristaltic pumps, so one nozzle sprays every layer in turn. Inside each pump, bearings spaced evenly round a holder squeeze the tube against the housing wall. A laser measures each layer as it grows, and the film can be annealed in place.
QUQatar Foundation and Qatar University
Inventors: Kishor Kumar Sadasivuni, Muni Raj Maurya, Mohammad Talal Houkan, John-John Cabibihan
One of the four pumps is shown. Choose how many bearings its holder carries; the red dashed line is the laser thickness check.
UV telepresence robot
Telepresence control schemes for hazardous environments
A mobile robot that disinfects rooms with UV-C light while its operator drives it from somewhere else, wearing a VR headset. It takes orders from hand controllers, hand gestures, voice commands, or a virtual map in the headset. A UV-C dose of 5 mJ/cm² cut SARS-CoV-2 by 99%. The robot measures 620 × 440 × 330 mm, carries 100 kg and moves at up to 1.2 m/s.
QFQatar Foundation
Inventors: John-John Cabibihan, Sammy Sedrati, Mohamed Ali Hammami
Pick a command, or click the map to send the robot there. Floor disinfected: 0%.
Turn the UV light on to disinfect the floor as the robot drives.