The goal for this project is to produce a low cost modular neuroprosthetic. By making the arm modular and localizing motors and their controllers within the components they control, the arm can be configured to fit multiple different kinds of amputees. The user control aspect is also quite different from most neuroprosthetics. I hoped to develop an arm which functions as similar to a real limb as possible. This means looking for indications of certain actions in targeted areas of the brain. It uses a combination of EMG (muscle activity) for muscles that are still there, while using EEG(brain activity) to control components no longer available. For example, for a elbow dis-articulation, the user’s upper arm muscles are still present and can be used to control the elbow joint, while the muscles for the hand and wrist are no longer present, so EEG analysis must be used to control those aspects. There is little evidence that any real world examples of functional prosthetic exist outside of this project, which leads me to believe this is the first prosthetic arm in the world to incorporate both as a control option.

Links:
July 2016

On the software side of things, research and early development has begun on supervised machine learning software for EEG analysis. This software will be much more accurate and reliable than the previous software used to analyze brain activity. The hope is that once the software is completed, the software can be distributed to others allowing for it to be utilized in various prosthetics. In this way, the project will develop a great prosthetic of its own, but also help to improve all other prosthetics.

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