EAGER: Controlling a Robotic Third Hand - Exploring Use of Distributed Intelligence from Autonomy to Brain Machine Interfaces for Augmenting Human Capability

该项目旨在确定人脑是否具有足够的自我适应性，即可塑性，以操作脑控机器人设备，执行需要与人的自然肢体持续协调和同步的任务。这些任务是指一只手(或四肢)的动作依赖于另一只手的动作，这里扩展到包括机器人设备，例如独立的人造“第三只手”。除了先进的人体假肢，应用领域还包括联合机器人作为助手，在危险环境中支持应急人员在野外、太空和海底执行复杂的手动操作，特别是在他们需要在没有其他人帮助的情况下独立执行任务的情况下。研究结果对人机交互和网络人类系统的研究和应用具有潜在的变革性。该研究进行了一系列非侵入性的人类受试者实验，以确定人类大脑是否具有足够的神经可塑性，以通过脑机接口实现分离的机器人“第三只手”(一只手的动作取决于另一只手的动作)的“不对称依赖”操作，或者是否可能受到人类四肢及其四肢250万年的原始人进化的限制。当我们探索通过脑机技术实现控制来增强人类身体能力的许多问题时，这是一个关键的考虑因素。将不同程度的机器人自主性与人机语言和手势交流控制相结合的设计也被认为是对直接大脑控制的补充或替代。

This project aims to determine if the human brain has sufficient self-adaptivity, called plasticity, to operate brain-controlled robotic devices in performing tasks that require continuous coordination and synchronization with the person's natural limbs. These tasks are those where the action of one hand (or limb) depends on that of the other, here extended to include a robotic device, such as an unattached artificial "third hand." Besides advanced human prosthetics, application domains include co-robots as aides supporting emergency responders in hazardous environments performing complex manual operations in the field, in space and undersea, particularly where they need to perform independently without the assistance of other persons. The results are potentially transformative for human-computer interaction and cyber-human systems research and applications.The research performs a set of non-invasive human subject experiments to determine whether the human brain may have sufficient neuroplasticity to enable "asymmetric dependent" operation of a detached robotic "third hand" (those in which the action of one hand depends on that of the other) through a brain-machine interface, or whether it may be limited in that capability by 2.5 million years of hominin evolution of our limbs and their extremities. This is a critical consideration as we explore the many issues of augmenting human physical capability with control implemented through brain-machine technology. Designs combining varying degrees of robot autonomy with human-machine verbal and gesture communicated control are also considered as supplements or alternatives to direct brain-control.