![]()
by
Filippo Arrichiello
Research & Innovation
Learn
November 16, 2016
Research and development of robotic assistive technologies has gained tremendous momentum in the last decade due to several factors such as the maturity level reached by several technologies, the advances in robotics and AI and the fact that more than 700 million of persons have some kind of disability or handicap. For many people with mobility impairments, essential and simple tasks, such as dressing or feeding, require the assistance of dedicated people. Thus, the use of devices providing independent mobility can have a large impact on their quality of life.
A team of researchers from the University of Cassino, under the direction of Professor Filippo Arrichiello, is working on the development of a control architecture for assistive robotic systems operated via a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) to allow a user to operate a robot using his thoughts. The proposed software architecture relies on widely used frameworks to operate BCIs and robots (namely, BCI2000 for the operation of the BCI and ROS for the control of the robot) integrating control, perception and communication modules developed for the application at hand.
In particular, using the BCI2000 framework, they developed a Graphical User Interface (GUI) based on P300 paradigm to allow the user to select options via a BCI Epoch+. The user can select objects from the scene and the action to perform by focusing attention on the corresponding flashing icons on a screen. By counting how many times the icon he wants to select flashes, the user generates a P300 potential that is detected via the BCI and translated in a selection operation on the GUI.
Messages related to the object and actions selected via the GUI are automatically sent to a 7DOF lightweight robot manipulator Jaco2 that has to operate in the environment. The robot control architecture relies on a perception module that allows to detection and localization of objects, and the face/mouth of the user, using a RGB-D sensor (Kinect one). The motion of the manipulator is then controlled relying on a closed loop inverse kinematic algorithm that simultaneously manages multiple setbased and equality-based tasks. Preliminary experiments have been performed where the user commands the robot via the BCI in order to move objects on a table or to select a bottle from where to drink.
Team members: prof. Filippo Arrichiello, Paolo Di Lillo (PhD student), Daniele Di Vito (PhD student), prof. Gianluca Antonelli, prof. Stefano Chiaverini.
Click here for more information on the Robotics Research Group of the DIEI.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also be interested in:
Virtual race: Competing in Brain Computer Interface at Cybathlon
Brain Computer Interface used to control the movement and actions of an android robot
Can a brain-computer interface convert your thoughts to text?
See all the latest robotics news on Robohub, or sign up for our weekly newsletter.
Filippo Arrichiello is an Associate Professor in Control Engineering at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy..... read more
Actuation Algorithm Controls Annoincement BCI brain-computer interface GUI Research Sensing software
Research & Innovation
Business & Finance
Health & Medicine
Politics, Law & Society
Arts & Entertainment
Education & DIY
Events
Military & Defense
Exploration & Mining
Mapping & Surveillance
Enviro. & Agriculture
Aerial
Automotive
Industrial Automation
Consumer & Household
Space
latest posts popular reported elsewhere
Lofty goals crash land while B2B drones prosper
by
Frank Tobe
#IROS2016 in pictures
by
Audrow Nash
Air, land, and sea: ERL Emergency Robots competition dates announced
by
Marta Palau Franco
Eliminating cords with wireless ‘millimeter wave’ virtual reality headsets
by
MIT News
The Drone Center’s Weekly Roundup: 11/14/16
by
Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College
Care-O-bot 4 celebrates its premiere as a shopping assistant
by
Fraunhofer IPA
Hasier Larrea - Ori Systems: Robotic Furniture
by
Audrow Nash
Should both the successes and failures of space robots curb the ambition of a manned Mars mission?
by
Alex Kirkpatrick
New U.S. Robotics Roadmap calls for regulation, research and education
by
UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering
Artificial-intelligence system surfs web to improve its performance
by
MIT News
latest posts popular reported elsewhere
Students develop cheap 3D printing technique for soft roboticsRobot Launch 2016 – Robohub Readers’ Pick round twoDriverless-vehicle options now include scootersDigital farms are already a realityCare-O-bot 4 celebrates its premiere as a shopping assistantThe evolution of assembly lines: A brief historyHow do self-driving cars work?NAO Next Gen now available for a wider audienceRobots, soldiers and cyborgs: The future of warfareCubli – A cube that can jump up, balance, and walk across your desk
latest posts popular reported elsewhere
Paralysed Iraq war veteran walks for the first time in eight years thanks to pair of robotic legs | SWNS
Robots likely to be used in classrooms as learning tools, not teachers | The Conversation
Berkeley’s 3D Robotics launches construction drone service | San Francisco Chronicle
The hover camera could change your travel photos | Architectural Digest
The future of artificial intelligence and cybernetics | MIT Technology Review
Meet the woman working to make delivery-by-drone a reality | Fortune
Experts release new roadmap for US robotics | ZDNet
How a robot could be grandma’s new carer | The Guardian
Not human: Major news outlets are using AI to cover the 2016 elections | Futurism
Someone made a real existential butter robot from ‘Rick and Morty’ | Inverse
Ibrahim Volkan Isler: Robotic Data Gathering in the Wild | CMU RI Seminar
Medical robotic systems market to reach US $13.6 Bn by the end of 2018 due to growing geriatric population | SBWire
Why Robots Must Learn to Tell Us “No” | Scientific American
RIPPA Demonstrating Autonomous Crop Interaction | ACFR
New US Robotics Roadmap calls for increased regulations, education and research | Phys.Org
Robotic bricklayer Fastbrick Robotics wins innovation award | The West Australian
The secret to small drone obstacle avoidance is to just crash into stuff | IEEE Spectrum
Release date announced for robot chef which can cook any meal and wash up after itself | The Telegraph
Kostas Alexis: Autonomous Exploration and Inspection using Aerial Robots | CMU RI Seminar
FEDOR robot helper russia cosmonaut space push ups | Inverse
European Robotics
April 3, 2015
A dedicated jobs board for the global robotics community.
Robotics Engineers – Auro (Autonomous Shuttles for Campuses) - Auro RoboticsSr. Machine Vision / SLAM Engineer - Mayfield RoboticsRobotic Engineering Leader - ConfidentialTechnical Lead (Robotics Software Development) - Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology CentreSenior – Principal Development Scientist (Robotics Development) - Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre
