Neurorobotics is an interdisciplinary scientific field which focuses on embodied neural systems and spans scientific theory, research, development and clinical medical practice. It involves a variety of science and engineering disciplines, most frequently electronic, mechanical and control engineering (sometimes alternatively described as electrical, automation, computer or automation engineering), informatics, computer science, software engineering and artificial intelligence (Al), while in the faculty of health sciences it is often associated with neuroscience, neurophysiology and neurosurgery.

Chapter Contents:

• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 State of the art: underlying technologies
• 7.2.1 Advances in electronics
• 7.2.1.1 Deep sub-micron VLSI and neural computation
• 7.2.1.2 Parallel distributed processing and neural computation
• 7.2.1.3 Memristors, a missing piece of the technological puzzle
• 7.2.1.4 From MEMS to NEMS and beyond
• 7.2.2 Advances in software design
• 7.2.2.1 Artificial intelligence
• 7.2.2.2 Machine learning
• 7.2.2.3 Robot vision
• 7.2.3 Advances in electromechanical engineering design
• 7.2.4 Improvements in electronics–neuron interfaces
• 7.2.4.1 Advances in electrode design
• 7.3 Neural human–robot interfaces
• 7.3.1 Neural–electronics interfaces
• 7.3.2 Affective robotics
• 7.4 Neural rehabilitation robotics
• 7.4.1 Robotic technologies for neural rehabilitation of the lower and upper limb
• 7.4.1.1 Lower limb robotic exoskeletons
• 7.4.1.2 Upper limb robotic exoskeletons
• 7.4.2 Motor intention decoding for robotic exoskeleton control
• 7.4.2.1 Noninvasive HMIs
• 7.4.2.2 Invasive HMIs
• 7.5 Robotic prosthesis
• 7.5.1 Neuroprosthetics
• 7.6 Future directions
• 7.6.1 Expected advances in key technologies
• 7.6.2 Convergence of key technologies
• 7.6.3 Expected demand
• 7.6.4 Home-based rehabilitation
• 7.6.5 Research into consciousness
• 7.6.6 Legal and ethical issues
• 7.7 Conclusions
• Acknowledgments
• References

Inspec keywords: artificial intelligence; medical robotics; medical computing; neurocontrollers

Other keywords: clinical medical practice; neurosurgery; artificial intelligence; neural systems; health sciences; computer science; neurophysiology; neurorobotics; software engineering; neuroscience

Subjects: Biology and medical computing; Expert systems and other AI software and techniques; Neural computing techniques; Robotics; Neurocontrol; Biological and medical control systems