Infinitely long isotropic Kirchhoff rods with helical centerlines cannot be stable.

It has long been known that every configuration of a planar elastic rod with clamped ends satisfies the property that if its centerline has constant nonzero curvature, then it is in stable equilibrium regardless of its length. In this paper, we show that for a certain class of nonplanar elastic rods, no configuration satisfies this property. In particular, using results from optimal control theory, we show that every configuration of an inextensible, unshearable, isotropic, and uniform Kirchhoff rod with clamped ends that has a helical centerline with constant nonzero curvature becomes unstable at a finite length.

When Is a Helix Stable?

We determine which helical equilibria of an isotropic Kirchhoff elastic rod with clamped ends are stable and which are unstable. Although the set of all helical equilibria is parametrized by four variables, with an additional fifth parameter determined by the rod's material, we show that only three of these five parameters are needed to distinguish between stable and unstable equilibria. We also show that the closure of the set of stable equilibria is star convex.

Publisher Correction: Large-area MRI-compatible epidermal electronic interfaces for prosthetic control and cognitive monitoring.

In Fig. 4c of this Article, the scale bar units were incorrectly stated as 'μV'; the correct units are 'mV'. The figure has now been amended accordingly.

Publisher Correction: Large-area MRI-compatible epidermal electronic interfaces for prosthetic control and cognitive monitoring.

In Fig. 4c of this Article originally published, the bottom y axis was incorrectly labelled as 'MRI-ECG (μV)'; the correct label is 'MRI/ECG'. In addition, in Fig.

Large-area MRI-compatible epidermal electronic interfaces for prosthetic control and cognitive monitoring.

Skin-interfaced medical devices are critically important for diagnosing disease, monitoring physiological health and establishing control interfaces with prosthetics, computer systems and wearable robotic devices. Skin-like epidermal electronic technologies can support these use cases in soft and ultrathin materials that conformally interface with the skin in a manner that is mechanically and thermally imperceptible. Nevertheless, schemes so far have limited the overall sizes of these devices to less than a few square centimetres.

The performance of 9-11-year-old children using an SSVEP-based BCI for target selection.

Objective: In this paper, we report the performance of 9-11-year-old children using a steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) and provide control data collected from adults for comparison. Children in our study achieved a much higher performance (79% accuracy; average age 9.64 years old) than the only previous investigation of children using an SSVEP-based BCI (∼50% accuracy; average age 9.

Controlling sensation intensity for electrotactile stimulation in human-machine interfaces.

A barrier to practical use of electrotactile stimulation for haptic feedback has been large variability in perceived sensation intensity due to changes in the impedance of the electrode-skin interface, such as when electrodes peel or users sweat. Here, we show how to significantly reduce this variability by modulating stimulation parameters in response to measurements of impedance. Our method derives from three contributions.

A Portable, Arbitrary Waveform, Multichannel Constant Current Electrotactile Stimulator.

In this paper, we present the design and performance of a portable, arbitrary waveform, multichannel constant current electrotactile stimulator that costs less than $30 in components. The stimulator consists of a stimulation controller and power supply that are less than half the size of a credit card and can produce ±15 mA at ±150 V. The design is easily extensible to multiple independent channels that can receive an arbitrary waveform input from a digital-to-analog converter, drawing only 0.

Estimation of distal arm joint angles from EMG and shoulder orientation for transhumeral prostheses.

In this paper, we quantify the extent to which shoulder orientation, upper-arm electromyography (EMG), and forearm EMG are predictors of distal arm joint angles during reaching in eight subjects without disability as well as three subjects with a unilateral transhumeral amputation and targeted reinnervation. Prior studies have shown that shoulder orientation and upper-arm EMG, taken separately, are predictors of both elbow flexion/extension and forearm pronation/supination. We show that, for eight subjects without disability, shoulder orientation and upper-arm EMG together are a significantly better predictor of both elbow flexion/extension during unilateral (R=0.

A Low-Cost, Open-Source, Compliant Hand for Enabling Sensorimotor Control for People with Transradial Amputations.

In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a low-cost, open-source prosthetic hand that enables both motor control and sensory feedback for people with transradial amputations. We integrate electromyographic pattern recognition for motor control along with contact reflexes and sensory substitution to provide feedback to the user. Compliant joints allow for robustness to impacts.

Automatic Grasp Selection using a Camera in a Hand Prosthesis.

In this paper, we demonstrate how automatic grasp selection can be achieved by placing a camera in the palm of a prosthetic hand and training a convolutional neural network on images of objects with corresponding grasp labels. Our labeled dataset is built from common graspable objects curated from the ImageNet dataset and from images captured from our own camera that is placed in the hand. We achieve a grasp classification accuracy of 93.

Epidermal mechano-acoustic sensing electronics for cardiovascular diagnostics and human-machine interfaces.

Physiological mechano-acoustic signals, often with frequencies and intensities that are beyond those associated with the audible range, provide information of great clinical utility. Stethoscopes and digital accelerometers in conventional packages can capture some relevant data, but neither is suitable for use in a continuous, wearable mode, and both have shortcomings associated with mechanical transduction of signals through the skin. We report a soft, conformal class of device configured specifically for mechano-acoustic recording from the skin, capable of being used on nearly any part of the body, in forms that maximize detectable signals and allow for multimodal operation, such as electrophysiological recording.

The elicitation of steady-state visual evoked potentials during sleep.

This study confirmed the hypothesis that it is possible to elicit SSVEPs through closed eyelids during NREM sleep. To test this hypothesis, SSVEP amplitudes were measured in eight subjects across two conditions of stimulation (stimulation on and stimulation off) and three brain states (waking, light sleep, and deep sleep). Results showed a significant interaction between stimulation and brain state.

A Compliant Four-bar Linkage Mechanism that Makes the Fingers of a Prosthetic Hand More Impact Resistant.

Repeated mechanical failure due to accidental impact is one of the main reasons why people with upper-limb amputations abandon commercially-available prosthetic hands. To address this problem, we present the design and evaluation of a compliant four-bar linkage mechanism that makes the fingers of a prosthetic hand more impact resistant. Our design replaces both the rigid input and coupler links with a monolithic compliant bone, and replaces the follower link with three layers of pre-stressed spring steel.

Flexible Electronics: An Epidermal Stimulation and Sensing Platform for Sensorimotor Prosthetic Control, Management of Lower Back Exertion, and Electrical Muscle Activation (Adv. Mater. 22/2016).

The design of an ultrathin, conformal electronic device that integrates electrotactile stimulation with electromyography, temperature, and strain sensing in a single, simple platform is reported by J. A. Rogers and co-workers on page 4462.

An Epidermal Stimulation and Sensing Platform for Sensorimotor Prosthetic Control, Management of Lower Back Exertion, and Electrical Muscle Activation.

The design of an ultrathin, conformal electronic device that integrates electrotactile stimulation with electromyography, temperature, and strain sensing in a single, simple platform is reported. Experiments demonstrate simultaneous use of multiple modes of operation of this type of device in the sensorimotor control of robotic systems, in the monitoring of lower back exertion and in muscle stimulation.

Soft, curved electrode systems capable of integration on the auricle as a persistent brain-computer interface.

Recent advances in electrodes for noninvasive recording of electroencephalograms expand opportunities collecting such data for diagnosis of neurological disorders and brain-computer interfaces. Existing technologies, however, cannot be used effectively in continuous, uninterrupted modes for more than a few days due to irritation and irreversible degradation in the electrical and mechanical properties of the skin interface. Here we introduce a soft, foldable collection of electrodes in open, fractal mesh geometries that can mount directly and chronically on the complex surface topology of the auricle and the mastoid, to provide high-fidelity and long-term capture of electroencephalograms in ways that avoid any significant thermal, electrical, or mechanical loading of the skin.

Playing checkers with your mind: an interactive multiplayer hardware game platform for brain-computer interfaces.

In this paper we describe a multiplayer brain-computer interface (BCI) based on the classic game of checkers using steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs). Previous research in BCI gaming focuses mainly on the production of software-based games using a computer screen--few hardware-based BCI games using a physical board have been developed. Hardware-based games can present a unique set of challenges when compared to software-based games.

An SSVEP-Based Brain-Computer Interface for Text Spelling With Adaptive Queries That Maximize Information Gain Rates.

This paper presents a brain-computer interface for text entry using steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEP). Like other SSVEP-based spellers, ours identifies the desired input character by posing questions (or queries) to users through a visual interface. Each query defines a mapping from possible characters to steady-state stimuli.

Interpreting lateral dynamic weight shifts using a simple inverted pendulum model.

Seventy-five young, healthy adults completed a lateral weight-shifting activity in which each shifted his/her center of pressure (CoP) to visually displayed target locations with the aid of visual CoP feedback. Each subject's CoP data were modeled using a single-link inverted pendulum system with a spring-damper at the joint. This extends the simple inverted pendulum model of static balance in the sagittal plane to lateral weight-shifting balance.

Materials and optimized designs for human-machine interfaces via epidermal electronics.

Thin, soft, and elastic electronics with physical properties well matched to the epidermis can be conformally and robustly integrated with the skin. Materials and optimized designs for such devices are presented for surface electromyography (sEMG). The findings enable sEMG from wide ranging areas of the body.

Sequential selection of window length for improved SSVEP-based BCI classification.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) utilizing steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEP) recorded by electroencephalography (EEG) have exciting potential to enable new systems for disabled individuals and novel controls for robotic and computer systems. To interact with SSVEP-based BCIs, users attend to visual stimuli modulated at predetermined frequencies. A key problem for SSVEP-based BCIs is to classify which modulation frequency the user is attending, for which there is an inherent trade-off between speed and accuracy.

Prediction of distal arm joint angles from EMG and shoulder orientation for prosthesis control.

Current state-of-the-art upper limb myoelectric prostheses are limited by only being able to control a single degree of freedom at a time. However, recent studies have separately shown that the joint angles corresponding to shoulder orientation and upper arm EMG can predict the joint angles corresponding to elbow flexion/extension and forearm pronation/ supination, which would allow for simultaneous control over both degrees of freedom. In this preliminary study, we show that the combination of both upper arm EMG and shoulder joint angles may predict the distal arm joint angles better than each set of inputs alone.

A brain-machine interface to navigate a mobile robot in a planar workspace: enabling humans to fly simulated aircraft with EEG.

This paper presents an interface for navigating a mobile robot that moves at a fixed speed in a planar workspace, with noisy binary inputs that are obtained asynchronously at low bit-rates from a human user through an electroencephalograph (EEG). The approach is to construct an ordered symbolic language for smooth planar curves and to use these curves as desired paths for a mobile robot. The underlying problem is then to design a communication protocol by which the user can, with vanishing error probability, specify a string in this language using a sequence of inputs.

A stochastic control approach to optimally designing hierarchical flash sets in P300 communication prostheses.

The P300-based speller is a well-established brain-computer interface for communication. It displays a matrix of objects on the computer screen, flashes each object in sequence, and looks for a P300 response induced by flashing the desired object. Most existing P300 spellers uses a fixed set of flash objects.