The Incredible Mind-Controlled Robot: A Leap into the Future
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Mind-Controlled Robotics
Meet Aurora, a remarkable monkey who has achieved the extraordinary feat of controlling a robot from across the globe using only her thoughts. This groundbreaking discovery raises exciting possibilities for individuals with paralysis.
Brain-machine interface expert Miguel Nicolelis leads this revolutionary research at Duke University. He has pioneered advancements in neuro-prosthetics and brain-machine interfaces, enabling technology that "listens" to the brain's activity—monitoring individual neurons and their collective patterns. Through this innovative approach, animals like Aurora can learn to manipulate virtual avatars and real-world devices without any physical interaction.
Section 1.1: The Journey Begins
In 2003, Nicolelis began his collaboration with Aurora to gain insights into the behavior of brain neurons. His research revealed that Aurora could learn to control a virtual hand on a screen, allowing her to earn a reward of orange juice.
Subsection 1.1.1: The Mechanism of Control
To further this understanding, Nicolelis had Aurora control a monkey avatar on a screen, providing feedback directly to her brain without any physical touch whenever she attempted to interact with the virtual environment.
Section 1.2: Training the Monkey
To kick off the project, Nicolelis's team trained the rhesus monkey to walk on a treadmill. They gathered data from sensors affixed to her legs to analyze muscle movements. This data, sourced from numerous brain cells, helped clarify the connection between neural activity and muscle contractions. By manipulating treadmill speed, researchers could better understand how brain activity related to step speed and stride length.
Chapter 2: From North Carolina to Japan
During the treadmill sessions, signals from Aurora's motor cortex were recorded, converted into binary code, and transmitted over the internet to a laboratory in Japan, where a robot was situated.
Nicolelis explains, “The brain activity that prompted the monkey's movements was sent to Japan, causing the robot to walk, while the visual feedback of the robot was sent back to Duke. The monkey’s reward system was engaged by the successful steps of the robot, rather than her own physical actions.”
Interestingly, the time it took for the signals to travel from Aurora's brain to Kyoto and for the visual feedback to return was 20 milliseconds faster than the time it takes for signals to move down a human spine to the legs. This suggested that neurons in various brain regions maintain specific timing relationships, aiding researchers in decoding the complex muscle coordination necessary for walking.
The first video showcases the incredible feat of a monkey controlling a robot with its thoughts, demonstrating the groundbreaking research behind this technology.
Is It Telekinesis?
After verifying this concept, researchers at Duke decided to halt the treadmill. However, upon seeing the avatar on the screen, Aurora instinctively thought about walking, prompting the robot in Japan to begin moving.
Nicolelis states, “Our sense of self extends beyond our physical bodies, reaching to the last layer of the electrons of the tools we control with our minds.” The overarching aim? To restore mobility for individuals with quadriplegia and paraplegia by bypassing spinal cord injuries, allowing their brain signals to operate a robotic exoskeleton. This initiative is part of the Walk Again Project, with scientists from Europe, America, and Japan collaborating on this mission.
The second video illustrates how a monkey can control an advanced robot using its mind, showcasing the potential future of neurotechnology.
A Vision for the Future
With continued advancements, it may not be long before humans can control machines in various environments—be it factories, underwater, or even on extraterrestrial surfaces—from the comfort of home. These developments could redefine our approach to space exploration and other frontiers, leveraging the brain's adaptability to create long-distance robotic embodiments.