Neural Controller for an Artificial Limb: Development of a Bio/Robotic Interface

摘要

This AASERT project was aimed at complementing an ongoing research project funded by ONR (grant no. N00014-95-1-0571). The goal of the parent grant was twofold: a) to further our understanding of the organization of motor control in the spinal cord; and b) to develop an artificial system consistent with this understanding. The purpose of this augmentation award was to enhance the ongoing sponsored research while training a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering. The system developed thanks to the AASERT support is a hybrid device that combines living neural tissue from the sea Lamprey brainstem and spinal cord with a small mobile robot. The goal was therefore twofold: 1) developing a novel device; and 2) engaging a graduate student in an advance research/development project. The AASERT award has provided an extremely valuable complement of the parent grant. The research under the AASERT award led to a novel and successful line of research, aimed at the integration of living neural tissue with artificial devices. This goal has been reached and the first prototype of a hybrid system operating with a closed sensory-motor loop has been created and utilized for investigating the structure of the neural connections and the mechanisms of synaptic plasticity.