A tear-jerking introduction of the technology

A cerebrally controlled robotic system is being developed by a team of researchers from Brown University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and a host of others could give paralyzed people the ability to use robotic limbs to manipulate objects for themselves. Called ‘BrainGate’, the brain-controlled system allows the user to control a robotic limb through thought. To do this, the team implants a wireless microelectrode array (Neural Interface System) at 4 X 4mm directly on the motor cortex portion of the brain that controls motor function. The series of electrodes (100 in all) on the chip pick up the brain's activity associated with arm movement and sends the signals to a series of computers that use software (unknown at this time) to decode the brains activity. The computers then translate those signals into a series of instructions that tell a robotic arm to move and grasp an object based on the user’s desired intentions. The researchers are presently using two types of robotic arms, which are being continuously developed by DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics and DEKA Research and Development Corporation.

DLR robotic hand/arm concept

The bigger of the two robotic arms being used by the researchers is DLR’s Hand Arm System, which is an external robotic arm made for more robust applications where impacts with heavy objects are nonconsequential (factory and warehouse work?).  The arm consists of a series of mechatronic compliance actuators with 52 drives and over 100 position sensors. The units hand alone features 38 individual tendons with each connected to an individual motor to provide tension and stiffness. The fingers use a similar configuration that uses two separate motors for individual grasping and tension based on the object being manipulated. The arm is so robust that you can actually beat it with a baseball bat without damaging any of the electronics.

Deka arm system

The second arm that the team is working with is DEKA Research and Development’s ‘Luke’ Arm (named after Luke Skywalker's mechanical hand). The arm is actually a robotic prosthesis that was designed for amputee patients and was developed as a DARPA tetraplegia project. The titanium Arm was designed to be roughly the same size as a typical human appendage and houses all of its electronics, motors and actuators inside (exactly how and what technology was used is currently unknown). The prosthesis features 18 degrees of movement which was accomplished by using rigid-to-flex circuit boards that were folded into ‘origami’ shapes placed inside the titanium housing. A vibrational motor at the top of the arm lets the user know how much pressure is needed to grasp an object through varying degrees vibration depending if the wearer is holding an egg or a brick.

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(All images and video courtesy of Crown Institute for Brain Science)

Concept of the sensor (via MIT & Wiley Online Library)

The list of applications for carbon nanotubes seems to keep growing and growing. Scientists at MIT have found a way to give these nanotubes the capability of detecting gasses that are present during the process of ripening and rotting of fruits and vegetables.

These sensors consist of tens of thousands of carbon nanotubes that have been treated with copper atoms and polystyrene. Ethylene, a gas present during the ripening process, sticks to the copper and thus slows the flow of electrons through the carbon nanotubes. The higher the ethylene content in the air, the slower the electron flow is, and this can be correlated to determine the stage of ripening or rotting. Combining the sensor with an RFID chip allows for real time monitoring of produce. The sensor detects 0.5 parts per billion of ethylene in the air which makes it extremely sensitive. The sensor itself can be manufactured for only 25 cents, while the addition of an RFID chip increased the price to only $1 total per unit.

These sensors could change how produce is handled in stores like when it is put on clearance. This sensor can also be used to manage plants in new and beneficial ways. According to the USDA, 10% of produce is lost to spoilage annually.

The U.S. Army Office of Research funded the MIT research. The army is hoping this paves the way to more general electrochemical sensors such as mold or bacteria detectors.

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A brief collection of Carbon Nano-tube related news:

The 9 nanometer carbon nanotube transistor

First flexible carbon nanotube logic circuit printed

Graphene made cheap and green

Liquid smoke reformulated for new energy storage use

5 times the density in ICs

Biological enhancement to solar cells

Sensor detects one molecule of explosive

New scale able to weigh the light-weighted while you wait; the single atom scale

Carbon-nanotube based Ink-jet printer on the way

Wireless printed sensor detects explosives at a distance

Stretchable nanotube transistor material from DOE Berkely, a touch interface

Innovega/DARPA AR Contact Lens concept (via DARPA)

As if calling in air-strikes with augmented reality glasses wasn't enough, now every soldier will get the virtual-world overlay on their eyes. DARPA is funding Innovega, a company looking to change the way we look at our digital and real worlds. The Air Force and Army both presently use head-up display (HUD) units to superimpose information about enemies, their environment, and other status updates in front of their field of view. However, Innovega offers a new technology that increases their field of view of the projection and greatly decreases the size of the product.

Innovega's system, called iOptik, uses contact lenses that have two different zones. This works by two different filters, an outer one used to see objects in your surrounding environment, and one at the very center that allows you to focus on very near objects with precise resolution. This dual-focus system will allow light rays to pass through the eye to the retina with two images in focus. The human eye has the amazing ability to choose which image it would like to see depending upon the user.

The system will also use small projectors placed on the side of the head near the ears to display the image on the lenses. According to Innovega, the image projected will appear very wide, similar to the experience of viewing a movie at an Imax. Additionally, the system can be used in different applications outside military purposes. It has a very big potential for 3D movies due to its ability show the eyes two different images at once. It can also be used to create augmented reality video games or superimpose digital information into the real world.

There are some eye-experts who are skeptical about the whole system, stating that it may cause a condition similar to motion sickness. On the other hand, not all people get motion sickness and Google's Project Glass is going to need some competition.

Eavesdropper

ErgoSensor concept (via Phillips)

Sitting and working at a computer all day takes its toll on our posture. Seriously, right now while I’m writing this, I’m hunched over at about a 45 degree angle and that can’t be good. So, for those of us who need help with this issue Phillips has designed a new monitor that lets us know were slouching and provides a procedure to correct it. The 24 inch LED monitor (1920 X 1080) is equipped with Phillips ‘ErgoSensor’ which measures the users position in relation to the monitor and provides feedback on distance to screen (optimal viewing distance), as well as neck-posture detection using an embedded sensor located in the display’s top bezel.

The sensor will alert you when you’re either too far/close to the screen, if your posture is wrong, and whether you’ve been at the display to long without taking a break (a coffee break?). The monitor also has some other unique functions such as powering off the monitor if nobody has been in front of it for a certain amount of time. This provides a power reduction of 80%, and there is a kill switch on the monitors back that lets you power-down to 0 watts (like the monitors off button on front?). The ErgoSensor monitor features standard adjustments as well i.e.: height, tilt and rotation. No word as of yet on the display’s cost, but my guess is in the $200 to $300 USD price range.

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Engineering On Friday takes the ErgoSense for a spin, annoyed by it.

(via Dr. Peter Jensen)

Back in 2005 a sci-fi documentary came out called ‘How William Shatner Changed the World.' In it, Shatner describes how some gadgets and technology from the original series, as well as others, have become a reality in one form or another in today’s world. The one gadget that is predominantly showcased in every episode hasn’t made the transition from fantasy to reality, until now (no not ‘beaming’ tech). The multipurpose scanning "Tricorder."

Answering the call from Qualcomm to invent a Tricorder (Tricorder X-Prize contest), Dr. Peter Jensen has designed a series of functional prototypes that may win the $10,000,000 US cash prize. The first, called Science Tricorder Mark 1, features eleven different sensors grouped into three categories: spatial (GPS, accelerometer/gyroscope and distance), atmospheric (heat, pressure and humidity) and electromagnetic (magnetometer, colorimeter, non-contact IR thermometer, linear polarization filters and ambient light converter). Housed inside the ‘Star Trek-esque’ case is an impressive array of hardware which includes a Microchip DSPIC33FJ256MC710A-I/PF. DSPIC33FJ256MC710A-I/PF. processor, 2.7 inch Sony Reflective TFT display, Cirque TSM9957 touch-pad module with a Microchip 6S26 sensor board (originally made for the PS/2). Jenson used Microchip’s C30 compiler along with their MPLAB IDE software platform to code the Mark 1’s firmware. Total cost to develop and build the Mark 1 set Jensen (and a team of others from his school days at McMaster University in Canada) back around $500 US which is pretty impressive considering it’s based off of 23^rd century technology (joking of course).

Next up is Jensen’s Mark 2 Tricorder which features most of the same hardware as the Mark 1 but with updated versions of the same sensors, electronics and the inclusion of an imaging sensor otherwise known as a cellphone camera. Another difference, or upgrade for that matter, over the Mark 1 is the inclusion of separate micro-controllers that make upgrading the sensors easier than its predecessor. The hardware for the Mark 2 has changed somewhat and includes an Amtel AT91RM9200 ARM-based processor along with two 2.8 inch OLED touchscreen displays.

Jensen's newer Tricorder design uses the Debian Linux OS for graphics rendering as well as a host of other applications. One of the noticeable differences the Mark 2 has over the original prototype is its casing. While the original looked like a crude silver cardboard cut-out, the Mark 2 is more stream-lined with a more ‘clean’ look giving it more of a Star Trek-like Tricorder aspect. Both are impressive, to say the least, and function as close to a futuristic Tricorder as possible. However, either of these Tricorders will not detect any alternate time-line fluctuations or alien pathogens, which is kind of a let-down.

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The practical beginnings of human-body augmentation are on us. GM and NASA have partnered to create a "Human Grip Assist" device,  which they are calling the Robo-Glove or K-Glove. The tech is pulled from the joint developed Robonaut 2 humanoid robot worker in the International Space Station.

Like in the Robonaut version, the glove is laden with sensors that help it decide what operations to perform. Pressure sensors let the Robo-Glove know it needs to start gripping. At which point the glove starts it actuators pulling in the synthetic tendons inside the glove. The team is boasting that 5-10 pound of human grip strength translates to 15-20 pounds of force in the glove. Actuation is produced via cords within the glove surface. A motor winds the cords up to pull the fingers into themselves. Very much like the tendon/muscle combo in human joints.

Robo-Gloves in use and construction image (via NASA & GM)

GM is squarely fixed on applying the glove in the automotive industry.

GM manufacturing engineering director Dana Komin explained, "When fully developed, the Robo-Glove has the potential to reduce the amount of force that an auto worker would need to exert when operating a tool for an extended time or with repetitive motions. In so doing, it is expected to reduce the risk of repetitive stress injury. We are continuously looking for ways to improve safety and productivity on the shop floor. "

The Robo-Glove houses the actuators and tendons as mentioned above, but also a LCD for programming and diagnostic. A lithium-ion battery attached to the user's belt powers the gloves. Glove materials are constructed by the Oceaneering company (added link for those interested in similar projects). At the moment, third generation prototypes, the gloves weight 2 pounds each. The next gen, production models, are promised to be smaller and lighter than previous iterations.

Although great for workers, I believe medical applications will be a major user. Those who have lost their grip strength, now have it back.

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See behind the scenes at the Robo-Glove Test Procedures, from the view of Engineering On Friday after the link.

Robo-Glove fun facts:

The Robonaut 2 (R2) projects have given GM and NASA 46 patents.

- 21 of which are for the R2's hand.

- 4 apply to the Robo-Glove

MinION (via Oxford Nanopore Technologies)

In the fast advancing technological world in which we live, it is only a matter of time before we can all readily have access to our human genome sequence. A firm in UK has built a small device that will bring us one step closer to that possibility. A surge in medical innovation may soon follow.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies has recently constructed a device that can sequence simple genomes through the USB port on your own computer. They call it the MinION, and it can sequence a genome in 2 hours. Within that time frame, it can sequence 10,000 base-pair long DNA strands."We just read the entire thing in one go," said chief technology officer Clive Brown.

The device is allowed to accomplish the enormous task of sequencing by nanopores, small organic molecules with a extremely small hole at their centers, only 10 nanometers wide. The nanopores are then placed into synthetic polymer membranes with exceedingly high electrical resistance. If a potential is applied across the membranes, it causes a current to flow through the small holes at the center of each nanopore.

When sequencing, DNA is added to a solution containing enzymes that are attracted to the ends of the DNA strands. The enzymes then attach to the ends of the nanopores, which act as a ratcheting device, feeding a  strand through one base pair at a time. Specific electrical characteristics of each of the four bases of the DNA cause a distortion in the current flow while passing through the nanopore. MinION is able to distinguish each of the four different disruptions in the current and record the sequence of DNA accordingly. The sensing components are integrated onto a small chip with approximately 512 nanopores, creating the potential to read up to 10,000 bases per second.

While other techniques currently exist to screen DNA, the MinION is superior in two unique ways. The device does not need to break apart individual strands in order to sequence them and can continuously sequence strands up to 10,000 bases. In addition, DNA does not need to be amplified to be accounted for. The MinION is expected to be out at the end of this year and will cost a customer around $900.

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Jianhui and the controlled robotic limb (via Zhejiang University)

Animals are capable of much. Learning sign language or aiding with search and rescue immediately come to mind. One such test animal, the monkey Jianhui, is now adept at learning how to control robotics with their minds. Zheng Xiaoxiang and his team of researchers from Zhejiang University in Zijingang China were able to identify and decode the electrical signals in the area of the monkey’s brain used for hand movement. The researchers then surgically implanted two microchips, which are connected to over 200 neurons inside Jianhui’s brain, that interface with an external computer for deciphering the brain signals. The signals are then sent to an advanced robotic hand, which was developed by STMicroelectronics and the Bio-robotics Institute Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, to mimic the monkey’s hand movements such as grabbing, pinching and holding. While animal rights activists may not agree with what Zheng Xiaoxiang and his team has done, the ‘Brain-Machine Interface’ does have practical implications such as enabling people with prosthetic limbs a more natural way of controlling them.

Jianhui is not the first to control a robot arm was controlled with thought. A similar system was already built and tested on a human subject with much success. However, that subject volunteered for the procedure, the monkey did not. It is a shame that animals get such a raw deal in science.

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