Myoelectric Teleoperation for Robotics and Prosthetics

Johnson Space Center is sponsoring continuing research on the use of myoelectric signals to control dexterous robotic and prosthetic hands. This research is expected to advance the state of the art beyond that of today's most common, commercially available, myoelectrically controlled prosthetics - clawlike devices, little altered since the 1970s, that are restricted to motion in one degree of freedom and are basically motorized hooks. Thus far, the research has shown that by use of a suitable combination of electronic hardware and software, it is possible to recognize the myoelectric signatures of at least two different grips in real time, with an accuracy of at least 90 percent. While this level of performance is below the nearly 100-percent accuracy required for highly precise teleoperation (e.g., for controlling remote manipulators on the Space Station), it is high enough to offer potential benefits to the prosthetics community, and hence would be well worth further investigation. The fruits of this research might eventually include comfortable, lightweight, and relatively inexpensive prosthetic hands that could act, in a nearly lifelike manner and in real time, in response to the myoelectric signatures of as many as six different grips.