China’s latest brainwave? Controlling space robots using mind power
- A device that can be controlled by a user’s brain has achieved unprecedented accuracy in tests, scientists say
- It could be used at the Chinese space station to operate a giant robotic arm
It could transform how astronauts operate the giant arm on the Chinese space station – a sophisticated piece of machinery with many flexible components.
The arm has so far been controlled by astronauts with a joystick and keyboard, which can sometimes be difficult in a weightless environment. Existing brain-control technology can control it with 40 to 80 per cent accuracy, which is below the standard needed in space – but a simulation of a new brain-computer interface has shown accuracy of above 99 per cent.
For comparison, the average accuracy of typing on a keyboard is only about 92 per cent.
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The head-mounted device is said to be simple to use. “An untrained person can use it to issue commands with fairly high accuracy and speed,” said Professor Wang Congqing and his colleagues in a paper published last month in domestic peer-reviewed journal Computer Measurement and Control.