Researchers improve robotic arm movements by adding a touch of touch

Nathan Copeland knows one or two things about brain implants. More than a decade after the car accident made him paralyzed from the chest down, Copeland enrolled in a medical trial that helped him get a touch of his touch. The breakthrough saw scientists instilling a chip in his brain which allowed him to control the robot’s hand. Back in 2016, Copeland flexed its new complement by hitting the boxing and President Barack Obama. Now, in the mid-30s, he became the focal point of other scientific breakthroughs.

Thanks to the experiment of a new brain interface, Copeland can feel the sensation of touch when the robot’s hand comes into contact with the surface or object. Tactile feedback allows it to hold and move blocks and glasses in half the usual time compared to sensory signal tests – from an average of 20 seconds to 10 seconds.

Copeland has become a pro in operating his robot arm. To make it faster, the research team at Pittsburgh University puts the sensor at the tip of the robot fingertips, including the torque sensor at the base of the digit, reports the cable. The four micro electrode arrays are implanted in their brain, meanwhile, read the commandment of their movements and stimulate the sensory system.

So, when Copeland grazed or gripping objects such as balls, the electrical signal from the torque sensor on the hand of the robot would bring brain implants, which then stimulates the electrode associated with the appropriate finger.

According to Copeland, his participation in experiments and previous years spent controlling robot arms means the new process does not feel aliens. “I have been very familiar with both sensations produced by stimulation and doing tasks without stimulation. Even though the sensation is not ‘natural’ – it feels like a soft pressure and tingling – which never bothered me,” he said.

“There is no point where I feel like stimulation is something I have to make a habit. Do the task while accepting just shared stimulation like PB & J,” he added.

The University of Pittsburgh’s research team is not the only one that explores the brain engine interface. For evidence, just take the chips implanted in the Copeland head. They are provided by Blackrock Neurotech, rivals for Neuralk Elon Musk who sell hardware and software to the neuroscience industry. The latest experiments also have support from the Advanced Defense Research Project Agency (DARPA). In addition, Sharlene Fisher, one of the researchers involved in this study, is a hardware engineer on Apple.

Although technology is in the initial concept stages, the researchers praised the latest breakthrough as a step forward for the brain chip interface. “We still have a long way to make a more realistic sensation and bring this technology to people’s homes, but getting closer we can create normal input to the brain, the better we will,” said Co -Senor Author Robert Gaunt, Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine Pitt and rehabilitation.