Brain-Controlled Helicopter Takes Flight

Maneuvering a remote controlled helicopter using a standard controller can be pretty challenging for a novice. I'm not sure how a new thought-control method developed at the University of Minnesota will compare. Researchers there have come up with a way to control a small quadicopter using electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain signals and transfer them to the copter.

Five subjects were fitting with a 64-electrode cap that sent signals to the quadicopter via Wi-Fi. The test subjects visualized hand signals to control the movement of the copter, and by the end of the experiment they could fly it through a set of foam rings at an indoor course.

The team hopes the research will help further the development of human-machine interfaces, as well as technology that could help the medical industry.

"Our next goal is to control robotic arms using noninvasive brain wave signals," said Bin He, lead researcher and a professor with the university's College of Science and Engineering. "With the eventual goal of developing brain-computer interfaces that aid patients with disabilities or neurodegenerative disorders."

Source: Yahoo