Researchers unveil mind-controlled flying robots

Researchers unveil mind-controlled flying robots
By Chenda Ngak /
CBS News/ June 5, 2013, 4:07 PM

Mind your thoughts -- you could be steering a flying robot into a wall.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering have developed a technique that lets people control unmanned aerial vehicles with their mind.

The noninvasive method doesn't require implanting an object, like a computer chip to measure brain activity. Researchers used a technique called electroencephalography (EEG), which is a unique brain-computer interface that attaches to a person's head, and records the electrical activity of a subject's brain using an EEG cap fitted with 64 electrodes.

Researchers say the system works because of the location of the brain's motor cortex -- the part of the cerebrum that governs movement. When a person thinks about different movements, it stimulates a new assortment of neurons, or nerve cells.

"Our study shows that for the first time, humans are able to control the flight of flying robots using just their thoughts sensed from a noninvasive skull cap," Bin He, University of Minnesota professor and lead author of the study, said in a news release. "It works as good as invasive techniques used in the past."

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57587871/