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Beginner Beginner
Human Human

Neurons

Have you ever had the desire to lose your free will? Or, alternatively, have you ever had the desire to take someone’s free will? Now you can with our new “Human-Human-Interface Experiment.”

Prerequisite Labs

You should become familiar with how to measure EMG

What Will You Learn?

In this lab, you will learn how to record your EMG signals and use them to control the muscles of another person, demonstrating the principles of neural communication and motor control.

Background

Downloads

Procedure

FAQ

Troubleshooting

Project Ideas

Note: A TENS unit by definition delivers enough current to cause muscle contraction. Do not place electrodes across the muscles of the throat or the chest. This experiment is appropriate for college students. Adult supervision is needed for younger (high school) users.

We have previously discussed “neuroprosthetics,” that is, designing a machine that interfaces with living neurons to control a device or for sensory substitution. But what about muscles? If people have damage to their spinal nerves, the muscles themselves can be stimulated, and this line of research is called “functional electrical stimulation.”

For example, functional electrical stimulation can often be used to help someone stand up, or to improve walking by helping to swing a foot forward.

Downloads

APP

Spike Recorder

Now you can record data straight to your laptop or computer! The BYB Spike Recoder turns your PC or phone into a high-tech data recording and analysis tool.

SCHEMATIC

Human-Human-Interface

In addition, if someone has an artificial limb, such as a robotic arm, they can use the electrical activity generated by the electromyographic signals in their pectoral muscles to control the motors and control systems in the robotic arm.

A notable example is Jesse Sullivan, who lost his arms during an electrical installation. There is also a company called RSLSTEEPER that has developed a bionic arm called the “bebionic3” which functions on very similar principles, but uses muscular activity in the amputee’s stump to control the wrist and hand movements.

Relation to RoboRoach

Fans of the RoboRoach have often asked us: “When will you get this working on humans?” We responded and solved this customer request by launching our “Society” invention. But many people were left unsatisfied. They wanted something more direct.

On the other hand, critics of the RoboRoach have often asked us: “How would you like it if someone controlled you with electrical stimulation?” Now, after months in the research lab, we finally now have the answer, and it is…

“…it depends.”

If you like who is controlling you, the feeling can be quite nice.

Experimental Procedure

1

Set Up The Controller

  • Place two Master electrode pads on your lower inner forearm and a third pad on the back of your hand. Take the orange cable and connect its two red clips to the pads on your forearm.

    Connect the remining black clip to the electrode on the back of your hand, to act as the ground. Connect the orange cable into the orange jack on the HHI device, labeled “Master”.

  • Locate the Power/Intensity Knob on top of the HHI device. Turn the knob clockwise until you hear a click, indicating the device is turned on.

  • Now, when you flex your muscles, you should see the LED bar located on the front of the HHI device light up from green to red.

    The button on the back of the HHI device is for adjusting thresholds and sensitivity of the LED bar. The more you toggle and increase this setting from green to red, the more difficult it becomes for the signal to cross the threshold and stimulate the Minion.
2

The Controlled

  • First, make sure the device is turned off and that the Master is connected.

    Plug the black cable into the black jack (labeled “Minion”), opposite of the orange jack/cable. Place two Minion electrodes on the inner forearm near the elbow of the Minion as see in the above photo. Connect the black plug to the lower electrode (nearest to the elbow) and the red plug to the upper electrode (nearest to your hand).

  • Now, turn on the device but leave the intensity low. The input user (the Master) should flex, making sure to light up the red LED to reach the threshold. Slowly turn up the intensity by turning the knob until the Minion’s arm moves. If you have trouble, try extending your forearm out at 90 degrees, but be sure to keep it relaxed. The amount of movement is based on the stimulation current (controlled by turning the Power/Intensity Know) and the threshold (set with the button on the back of the HHI device). If a user is not comfortable with the stimulation, do not increase the intensity. If stimulation is felt but movement is not achieved, try rearranging electrode placements.

  • To disarm the experiment, first turn off the device. Then have the Controller remove their electrodes.

FAQ

We receive a lot of questions regarding this experiment, and we collect some of the most common.

Can you achieve more full control, like say, an entire limb?

While someone could place more pairs of stimulating electrodes on different muscles, the movements will always appear “jerky” due to stimulation thresholds and types of muscle fibers activated. More complex and precise motor movements still wouldn't be possible.

Can you control another person by using your brain waves (EEG) instead of muscle electrical activity (EMG)?

Some research groups have had success with analogous experiments, but the set-up is more complicated and susceptible to false positives. EMG is much easier to amplify and control things with.

Trouble Shooting

If your device is not working, try these solutions first!

  • When connecting to SpikeRecorder via USB, don't use the "select port" menu, instead just wait up to 30 seconds, and the board will connect automaitcaly.

  • If you're able to read EMG, but the "minion" doesn't feel any stimulation:

    Let's try slowly increasing the intensity by using the dial on the board.

    The stimulation will only happen while LED5(Right under the "Minion" brain on the cover) is on, if it is on for too long(4-5seconds), it will turn off automatically, if this happens, turn the box off and on again.

  • You can also test the stimulation signal independently of the EMG signal
    (and not use up muscle patch electrodes in the process).
    Plug in the orange cable, clip all 3 alligator clips together, turn the
    box on, disconnect one of the red clips and you should see LED5 turn on.

Science Fair Project Ideas

  • We’ve noticed that some people respond at lower or higher stimulation levels than others. What factors could you measure that may affect the level of someone’s response to the same level of stimulation-age? Gender? How regularly they work out? If they’re tired or not?

  • The stimulation of the muscles with the HHI, while interesting, is not nearly as elegant and smooth as the natural movements you can make with your own volitional control. Why do you think this is? How could you compare the two in an experiment? Which do you think would be stronger-your natural movements or those induced by the huge amouont of current coming from the HHI?

  • While this is a fun neuroprosthetic demo for public and classroom demonstrations, what would it take to make this a useful device for the clinic? We make tongue-in-cheek jokes about “controlling humans” here in this experiment, but what do you think it would take to fully control movements?