Thought controlled robotics

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Thought controlled robotics

Introduction

People with paralyzing diseases or injuries are dependent on others and can only imagine what it is like to have freedom of movement. However with recent advancements in thought-controlled robotics, things are looking brighter for them. With this technology they would be able control robotic limbs through mere thought and indeed imagining might be all that they need to move.

Overview of the technology

(Monkey Brain Operates machine - BBC News)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1025471.stm

In recent times there has been much research into the area of Neuroengineering. This journal will focus in particular on the area of thought-controlled robotics. A pioneer in this field is Dr Miguel Nicolelis, a neuroscientist at Duke University. Dr Nicolelis was featured in 2000 for his experiment on 2 monkeys, where brain signals were used to drive a robotic arm. As the monkeys reached out to pick up some food off a tray, an artificial neural system linked into its head replicated this action in the robotic arm.

This is not the first time that a device has been operated by "brain power" alone. For example in 1999 scientists from Germany developed a