DARPA's human-like prosthesis for wounded soldiers is closer to reality

[BurtWorm]

http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2007/04/bionic_arm_20_watch_out_dean_kaman_1.html



DARPA may soon make good on their promise to have human-like prosthesis for wounded soldiers by 2009.

An international team led by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., has developed a prototype of the first fully integrated prosthetic arm that can be controlled naturally, provide sensory feedback and allows for eight degrees of freedom--a level of control far beyond the current state of the art for prosthetic limbs. Proto 1, developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Revolutionizing Prosthetics Program, is a complete limb system that also includes a virtual environment used for patient training, clinical configuration, and to record limb movements and control signals during clinical investigations.

The DARPA prosthetics program is an ambitious effort to provide the most advanced medical and rehabilitative technologies for military personnel injured in the line of duty. Over the last year, the APL-led Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 (RP 2009) team has worked to develop a prosthetic arm that will restore significant function and sensory perception of the natural limb. Proto 1 and its virtual environment system were delivered to DARPA ahead of schedule, and Proto 1 was fitted for clinical evaluations conducted by team partners at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) in January and February.

"This progress represents the first major step in a very challenging program that spans four years and involves more than 30 partners, including government agencies, universities, and private firms from the United States, Europe, and Canada," says APL's Stuart Harshbarger, who leads the program. "The development of this first prototype within the first year of this program is a remarkable accomplishment by a highly talented and motivated team and serves as validation that we will be able to implement DARPA's vision to provide, by 2009, a mechanical arm that closely mimics the properties and sensory perception of a biological limb."

APL, which was responsible for much of the design and fabrication of Proto 1, and other team members are already hard at work on a second prototype, expected to be unveiled in late summer. It will have more than 25 degrees of freedom and the strength and speed of movement approaching the capabilities of the human limb, combined with more than 80 individual sensory elements for feedback of touch, temperature, and limb position.

[Little Wing]

1. Neat

[Babsbrain]

13. Did DARPA steal the bees?

http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,109580,00.html

"The Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (HI-MEMS) program is the responsibility of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which on March 9 announced that it was soliciting research proposals on the technology. These insects would be outfitted with sensors and a wireless transmitter that could enable them to send data on conditions in places inaccessible to human troops. The goal of the program is to produce a sensor-enabled insect with a 100-yard range that could be placed within five meters of a target using electronic remote control and, potentially, Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies"

[slj0101]

2. Amazing.

While the circumstances that demand such a thing are unfortunate, that is very innovative. This will offer a lot of hope for amputees in the future.

[piedmont]

3. Just a by-product of their effort to produce robotic killing machines.

They are working on creating wheeled and airborne robots with the capability of autonomous navigation. I have no doubt the next step is to develop the capability to make life-death decisions autonomously, too.

[Kelly Rupert]

5. Are you joking?

Or do you actually think that "building new limbs for amputees" is equal to "autonomous killer robots," despite the two having nothing in common but copper wiring?

[piedmont]

7. Can you read and comprehend what you read?

I did not say, imply, or mean that "building new limbs for amputees" is equal to "autonomous killer robots." I said that the same agency is doing both. The two applications DO share a great deal of engineering in terms of materials, sensors, control software, etc.

[Little Wing]

14. *groan*

That didn't take long

[piedmont]

16. No, and it shouldn't have. DARPA is a weapons-development agency...

with a specialty in applying robotics to military applications. They're not making sunshine and rainbows, ya know.

[Ignacio Upton]

4. From the people who brought you the internets

n/t.

[Kelly Rupert]

6. This is why I love DARPA.

[The2ndWheel]

8. The sooner DARPA and other such agencies are shut down

the better off we'll all be.

[Crandor]

12. Why don't you boycott everything made by DARPA?

You could start with the TCP and IP protocols the Internet is based on.

[The2ndWheel]

18. My little boycott would mean what?

It's the same thing as me not having a car. I don't have one, I've never had one, and it hasn't changed a damn thing.

If I'm a weak hypocrite because I use the internet, then I'm not going to argue with you. Nobody likes slavery, yet I'm sure everyone has something made by a modern day slave. I'm sure something I'm wearing was made by a 7 year old girl somewhere. I'm sure the computers we're both using probably caused some type of cancer in whoever put them together.

It's a fucked up world where we benefit from agencies like DARPA and globalized slavery. If not for murder on a massive scale, there would be no America.

Don't worry, DARPA isn't going anywhere. It's more important than any living thing on the planet.

[Zywiec]

15. Also throw your computer mouse into the trash

That pesky killing device also came from DARPA. While you're at it, don't fly on any commercial planes or sail on any ships that use GPS for navigation. It much more fun hoping you end up in the right place!

[The2ndWheel]

20. Actually I haven't flown or sailed on a ship

in a long time.

It's funny; in a world more known, we need more help figuring out where we are.

[MLFerrell]

9. Wouldn't it be nice if there weren't so many casualties to make this a necessity?

Wouldn't it?

[BurtWorm]

10. Not to take issue with you on that, but there are lots of non-combat related losses of limb

that would benefit from this technology. It's tragic that this research is only being funded because of war-related amputations.

[Bake]

11. Our wounded deserve the very best.

I applaud this development.

Of course, the cost of these prosthetics will be astronomical. And given what we've seen at Walter Reed, I doubt they'll get into widespread use.

Bake

[flyarm]

17. Poindexter and Darpa....

http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/search?invocationType=topsearchbox.search&query=+Poindexter+and++darpa+

[flyarm]

23. darpa was involved ( was??) with human mind control..and MKULTRA eom

[provis99]

19. remember the DARPA gay bomb?

they came up with a theory of creating a gay bomb to drop on enemy soldiers, to make them turn gay and want to have sex with each other on the spot, rather than fight. I mean seriously, you can't make shit like this up. Randi Rhodes covered this on one of her radio shows; she seems to have a soft spot for illustrating some of DARPA's goofier projects.

[Occulus]

21. That's why I feel DARPA deserves a good stiff dose of sunshine

I mean, come on. How much money does DARPA get yearly? And how much of it is shielded from our knowledge in the name of "national security"? Yes, they engage in weapons research, and there's a legitimate argument to be made that some things in that category ought to remain secret, but it's things like what you said (gay bomb?) that underscore my point: we can't know just how DARPA is spending all that money.

That doesn't sit so well with me, ya know?

[jmowreader]

22. I can't be the only one who thinks that looks like part of a Terminator

And that's good.

The appeal of the Terminators to Skynet was that they were almost indistinguishable from humans.

The appeal of this prosthetic is that it doesn't look like a prosthetic, hence no one will be looking at the person using it. If it is reliable and doesn't cost a brazillion dollars, it will improve amputees' lives.

[Odin2005]

24. Cool.

From the guys that brought you teh internets! :D

[jpgray]

25. That's great news! This military technology will help ordinary people who lose a limb as well

While DARPA does do some evil things, this one in isolation will be quite nice for people who want to live with dignity after losing a limb. Think of all the industrial tech teachers who will not have as many sniggering students. :D