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Swiss engineers have created technology to "mentally control" objects
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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Swiss engineers have built a robot to transmit the effect of telepresence, control of which requires only a network of electrodes connected to the user's head.
Modern technologies of "mental" control of objects at a distance are based on the use of a structurally simple device. This is a headset, which consists of a set of electrodes in contact with the skin, measuring the electrical activity of the brain. The principle of its operation is the same as when conducting electroencephalography (EEG). However, a person, instead of sitting quietly and listening to doctors, gives commands himself, making a mental effort and imagining how, for example, he moves figures on a computer screen.
Scientists from Switzerland, led by bioengineer Jose del Millan from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), decided to put this technology to use for people with paralysis. They created a neurocomputer interface that allows control of a wheeled vehicle to simulate the effect of presence.
The robot is a modification of the Robotino base platform from the German company Festo. Among other things, it has a video camera, as well as a laptop with wireless Internet access and Skype running on it.
To test the system's performance, the specialists recruited two patients whose legs had been paralyzed for 6 and 7 years. The researcher conducted a distance learning course with them, explaining the rules of "mental" handling of the robot for an hour a week for six weeks. This was enough for the subjects, who were 100 km away from the device, to learn to roll it in different directions, avoiding obstacles along the way.
The developers were very pleased with the result and promised to equip the robot with a manipulator for grasping objects in the future. The system can become the basis for creating algorithms for "brain" control of both remotely located mechanisms and artificial limbs or a wheelchair.
The study was presented at the EMBC 2011 Biomedical Conference, which was held from August 30 to September 3 in Boston, USA.