Two undergraduate students, Michal Prywata and Thiago Caires, from Toronto's Ryerson University have created a prosthetic arm that is powered by compressed air and controlled by thoughts (brain signals) of the wearer. The wearer does not have to undergo surgery to get this arm because it is attached by straps. This prosthetic arm also has a fuller range of motion than other arms. In order to move the arm, the amputee wears a headset that detects brain signals. Whenever the signals in the brain match one of the established command signals, the arm moves accordingly.
One interesting tidbit about the creation of this arm is the fact that it took about a year to develop the software but the actual arm only took 72 hours to build.
As of right now, the two students are trying to get the fingers to move individually. They are also trying to establish a sense of capacitive touch into the fingers as well.
This students have also established their own company Bionik Laboratories, Inc. in order to commercialize their arm.
Interested to see the original article? Check it out! http://www.gizmag.com/pneumatic-thought-controlled-prosthetic-arm/18289/
No comments:
Post a Comment