College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology
Southwest Mechanics Lecture Series

Moving by Thinking: Progress Towards a Neural Prosthetic

Joel W. Burdick
Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

A large group at Caltech is working to develop a neural prosthetic that can aid the handicapped. This talk will first summarize our overall efforts to develop neural prostheses based on the brain's Parietal Reach Region (PRR). The PRR, whose function is briefly reviewed, encodes the arm's reaching intentions. We then describe our experimental set-up for testing this concept on primate models, and present preliminary experimental results that demonstrate the possibility of using a cognitive neural prosthetic to control external devices by pure thought alone. The second half of the talk will focus on our efforts to develop a new class of "movable" electrodes that autonomously isolate a neural cell so as to optimize the recorded signal quality, and then maintain optimal signal quality using feedback. Such devices are likely to improve the reliability and robustness of future chronic neural prosthetic systems.   Joel. W. Burdick received his BSME from Duke University in 1981 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1982 and 1988. He has been on the faculty at the California Institute of Technology since 1988 and currently has the title of Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering. He serves as the Deputy Director of the Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering. Prof. Burdick’s research interests include analysis and control of biomimetic robotic locomotion, sensor-based robotic motion planning, the mechanics and control of grasping and fixturing, development of robots for minimally invasive medicine, applied nonlinear control, and hyper-redundant (snake-like) mechanisms. Since robots are computer-controlled devices, much of Prof. Burdick's work focuses on developing and analyzing the computer algorithms that control and coordinate complex robotic motion. Prototype robots are constructed to demonstrate and validate current theories. Prof. Burdick’s many publications have included a number of papers that have been finalists for the Best Paper Award at IEEE International Conferences on Robotics and Automation. He was plenary speaker for the National Academy of Engineering in 1999. Early in his career, he won Young Investigator Awards from both ONR and NSF. In addition to his success in research, he has received awards for excellence in both graduate and undergraduate teaching.