{"id":14289,"date":"2017-03-08T01:29:33","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T01:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kurzweilai.net\/?p=295100"},"modified":"2017-03-09T23:14:30","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T23:14:30","slug":"how-to-control-robots-with-your-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoo.central12.com\/fugic\/2017\/03\/08\/how-to-control-robots-with-your-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"How to control robots with your mind"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

The robot is informed that its initial motion was incorrect based upon real-time decoding of the observer\u2019s EEG signals, and it corrects its selection accordingly to properly sort an object (credit: Andres F. Salazar-Gomez et al.\/MIT, Boston University)<\/p><\/div>\n

Two research teams are developing new ways to communicate with robots and shape them one day into the kind of productive workers featured in the current AMC TV show HUMANS<\/em><\/a> (now in second season).<\/p>\n

Programming robots to function in a real-world environment is normally a complex process. But now a team from MIT\u2019s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and Boston University is creating a system that lets people correct robot mistakes instantly by simply thinking.<\/p>\n

In the initial experiment, the system uses data from an electroencephalography (EEG) helmet to correct robot performance on an object-sorting task. Novel machine-learning algorithms enable the system to classify brain waves within 10 to 30 milliseconds.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The system includes a main experiment controller, a Baxter robot, and an EEG acquisition and classification system. The goal is to make the robot pick up the cup that the experimenter is thinking about. An Arduino computer (bottom) relays messages between the EEG system and robot controller. A mechanical contact switch (yellow) detects robot arm motion initiation. (credit: Andres F. Salazar-Gomez et al.\/MIT, Boston University)<\/p><\/div>\n

While the system currently handles relatively simple binary-choice activities, we may be able one day to control robots in much more intuitive ways. \u201cImagine being able to instantaneously tell a robot to do a certain action, without needing to type a command, push a button, or even say a word,\u201d says CSAIL Director Daniela Rus. \u201cA streamlined approach like that would improve our abilities to supervise factory robots, driverless cars, and other technologies we haven\u2019t even invented yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team used a humanoid robot named \u201cBaxter\u201d from Rethink Robotics, the company led by former CSAIL director and iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks.<\/p>\n