MRI: Acquisition of robotic tools for studying brain, behavior and embodied cognition

该项目将使一个新的机器人外骨骼手臂与集成的虚拟现实和眼动跟踪设施提供给研究人员在加州大学默塞德，加州系统的第十个和最新的校园的人类体现和定位认知的研究。这些设备将使人类认知研究的前沿研究使用机器人工具，使各个部门的教师和学生受益，包括认知信息科学，电气工程计算机科学，机械工程和数字人文科学。该设备将促进多个方向的研究，包括1）人类运动控制动作动力学与物理康复应用2）认知和行动3）大脑行为交互4）基本的人类启发的机器人研究5）人机交互6）语言，沟通手势。机器人手臂将提供一个复杂的平台来监测和操纵上肢，提供广泛的手和基于关节的动觉信息和凝视信息。通过内置的虚拟/增强现实，机器人手臂系统将允许在操纵人类参与者的手臂运动时改变视觉信息。这项工作将有助于加州大学默塞德分校战略重点领域的机构能力建设，并将促进校园各部门科学家和学生之间的直接合作。设备带来的培训影响预计将在加州大学默塞德特别广泛，因为它的学生群体非常多样化，并且有大量的项目专注于增加代表性不足的少数民族的参与。研究人员包括PI：Balasubramaniam和合作PI Spivey和Carpin还计划使用经颅磁刺激（TMS）等技术扰乱神经活动以及使用机器人设备记录在手臂运动的扰动期间的大脑活动。这项研究的变革性方面来自于它同时观察和操纵大脑活动和复杂运动行为的能力。

This project will make a new robotic exoskeleton arm with integrated virtual reality and eye-tracking facilities available to researchers for the study of human embodied and situated cognition at UC Merced, the tenth and newest campus of the University of California system. The equipment would enable cutting-edge research in the study of human cognition using tools from robotics benefitting a range of Faculty and students across various departments including Cognitive & Information Sciences, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering and Digital Humanities. The equipment will catalyze research in several directions including 1) Human Motor Control & Action Dynamics with applications for physical rehabilitation 2) Embodied Cognition and Action 3) Brain-behavior interactions 4) Fundamental human-inspired robotics research 5) Human-machine interactions 6) Language, Communication & Gesture. The robotic arm will provide a sophisticated platform to monitor and manipulate the upper limb, providing a broad range of hand and joint-based kinesthetic information and gaze information. With built in virtual/augmented reality, the robot arm system will allow for altering visual information to be presented to human participants while manipulating their arm movements. The work will help build institutional capacity in an area of strategic focus at UC Merced and will result in direct collaborations between scientists and students across various departments on campus. The impact of the training resulting from the equipment is expected to be particularly broad at UC Merced due to its exceptionally diverse student body and the large number of programs focused on increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities.Researchers including the PI: Balasubramaniam and Co-PIs Spivey and Carpin also plan on perturbing neural activity using techniques such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and recording brain activity during the perturbation of arm movements using the robotic device. The transformative aspect of this research comes from its ability to observe and manipulate brain activity and complex motor behavior simultaneously.