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Robot Controls Person's Arm To Manipulate Objects
An anonymous reader writes "French researchers have demonstrated a robot that controls its own arm as well as a person's arm to manipulate objects in a collaborative manner, IEEE reports. Electrodes attached to the person's arm allow the robot to make the elbow and hand move to perform tasks. The tasks are currently simple (dropping a ball through a hoop, as shown in one of their videos), but the researchers say more complex ones are possible. They also say the approach has therapeutic benefits and their goal is to 'develop robotic technologies that can help people suffering from paralysis and other disabilities to regain some of their motor skills.'"
...nah, too easy.
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Actually, since the article is about robots controlling humans, the joke would have to be "In Soviet Russia, you control robots!"
And yes that now is a joke.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
"Query: Why are you assaulting yourself?"
"So Mr. Smith, and I remind you that you are under oath, you claim the reason you groped 'the lady in red' sitting next to you on the airplane, is that your 'ARM Controller' chip malfunctioned ?"
The problem with that first design is that really just turned your muscles "on or off". No matter how slight the movement. Apparently it was extremely tiring to use even briefly.
This appears to have a subtle control that would allow a paraplegic to use a robo-leg controller all day without tiring any more than you or I.
Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
There's nothing to be nervous about, the system has a safety switch. Whenever you feel that the robot might have gone out of control, you just put your hand on the switch and press...oh, wait.
All jokes aside this is fantastic news.
Now when a robot loses an arm in an automobile accident they'll be able to replace it with a human arm.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch