Monkey Controls Robot Using Only its Mind
Tue, Jan 15, 2008
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If you’ve ever feared that Planet of the Apes could become a reality, it’s time to freak out.
An image from a previous monkey/robot connection experiment
Recently, neuroscientists at Duke University announced that a monkey in North Carolina had managed to make a robot all the way in Japan walk using only the power of its mind.
The monkey’s brain activity made the humanoid robot walk. This marks the first time that brain activity has been used to make a robot walk, although the research team had previously shown monkeys could control grasping and reaching robotic arms using thoughts.
The team is led by Dr. Miguel A. L. Nicolelis. He believes that the research could one day allow paralyzed people to walk by controlling electronic devices with their thoughts. Theoretically, the patient’s brain activity would direct a device attached to a type of exo-skeleton worn around the legs, which would then control the legs’ movements. Other scientists have hailed the study as a major breakthrough.
The robot controlling monkey is named Idoya. Idoya was first trained to walk upright on a treadmill. She held onto the bars with her hands and got treats of raisins and cheerios for walking in various directions and speeds 3 days a week for two months.
While Idoya did all this walking, electrodes implanted in her brain recorded the activity of the neurons that became active when she walked. They measured which neurons fired when her hips moved, which fired when her feet moved, and some in anticipation of her movements. The researchers also captured her movements on video.
The research team then combined the brain activity and video information into a format readable by a computer. When this information was inputted, the computer was able to predict Idoya’s movements three to four seconds before they occurred with 90% accuracy.
Idoya was then connected to a robot in Kyoto, Japan which was designed to mimic human locomotion. Idoya was then tasked with making the robot move using her brain activity. She was shown the back of the robot’s legs on a large monitor, and given treats if she could get the robot’s legs to move at the same time as hers.
Then the scientists got a little tricky. They stopped the treadmill and waited to see what Idoya would do. Lo and behold, the little monkey just kept staring at the screen. It kept concentrating, and the robot’s legs kept moving. She was able to make the robot’s legs move for a full three minutes after she had stopped moving her own legs, using only the power of her brain.
The scientists are thrilled at the discovery and plan to conduct further research using monkeys in the near future. They also plan to conduct an experiment with humans later. Dr. Nicolelis intends to prove that humans can move an exoskeleton attached to their paralyzed arm using their brainwaves.
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3 Trackbacks For This Post
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Raaskal.com » Aap bestuurt robot Says:
January 15th, 2008 at 9:38 pm[...] document.write(”); Hier een artikel over een robot die wordt aangestuurd door de hersens van een aap. Zolang die aap niet de robot naar mijn werk kan sturen zodat ik lekker de hele dag kan internetten [...]
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Daily Dyson » Blog Archive » Robotic Arms To Throw Feces? Says:
January 17th, 2008 at 5:26 pm[...] If there was ever a reason to be worried about technology, this is it. [...]
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Veralidaine Says:
January 17th, 2008 at 7:18 pmMonkey+Robot = Walking Robotic Exoskeleton Instead of Wheelchair?…
A monkey named Idoya in North Carolina made news last week when she controlled a robot in Japan using…
January 16th, 2008 at 2:13 am
If that is a chimp, then chimps aren’t monkeys.
January 16th, 2008 at 2:52 am
*sweat*
maybe in a few years scientists will be researching about paranormal energies then..
and in a few more years, lesser primates will be able to dominate a portion of the world..
heck with that.. after a century, this planet will be the planet of the apes.. xD
January 16th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Haha. The first thing someone pulled from that article was that we evolved from monkeys?
Please. If you’re still phrasing it like that, you know practically nothing of the actual fossil record for our ancestors, and you’re certainly not prepared to absorb new and exciting information like this article.
Do you point out that the Earth is most definitely round everytime you read an article on astronomy?
Oh, and if you’re judging “smart” by awareness of a species’ environment, then humans win out on this planet, I’m sorry to say. Even if we don’t have the perceptive power of other animals, we win out by virtue of how geeky we are about figuring things out (like with this study).
January 16th, 2008 at 3:59 am
That picture is (very old and) from a different laboratory, which is not affiliated with nicolelis’ lab. Please don’t associate the two.
Walking is mostly a function of the lower brain and brainstem. They used activation of cortical neurons during walking to control a robot (the remote thing is irrelevant and rather silly), but that doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the control of walking. They could have controlled a can opener, that would be about as meaningful. As long as feedback was provided it could be made to work. Reach/grasp is interesting because the control of reach and grasp seems to take place more directly in the cortex.
January 16th, 2008 at 6:09 am
I didn’t know Dick Cheney could make George W do all those things just over a few wires! Bravo Dick! What an act!
January 16th, 2008 at 11:26 am
yes it’s a different experiment,hence the part in the description saying it’s from a previous study. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any cool photos of this experiment. Got any, Grad Student? I’ll be glad to post them and link to Nicolelis’ lab, or maybe even post some more scientific writings from them. And while the remote thing may be irrelevant and it’s definitely silly, that doesn’t have to mean bad. It can mean really cool, such as in this context. I, and quite a few others I’m sure, would not have been quite as intrigued by the story had the robot been in the same room.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
So if it is not a chimp, then chimps are monkeys.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Awesome!! Can’t wait to control shizz with my mind!
January 17th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
So nine comments so far – and no-one thinks doing this kind of thing to chimpanzees is sick and twisted?
January 17th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
fyi all, no chimps are involved in this study whatsoever. that’s not a chimp in the picture either.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
This is just a beginning is it? a monkey control the robot? i wonder if that monkey think about flying..and the robot is flying.. after that a new generation of monkey exist, we’ll never see them climbing a tree but controlling the robot to fly above the tree…lol!
May 29th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
hi it’s nice to hear,but you did’t say exactly how the monkey coult control the brain. please i need clarity and full information about this plz respond quckly..
thank you.