Force output based calibration of a muscular electrical stimulation array
The AIROB Lab has 1 open position for Master’s project or Research Internship to investigate electrode array calibration based on fingertip force output under stimulation.
The MyoCeption prototype allows to induce force output in human limbs, and therefore to control movements. At the moment, the device is normally used on the shoulder and elbow joint, and is controlled in a loop that only has feedback in body posture. This project would be focused in including force sensing modalities in the MyoCeption’s control loop, and in applying this to the control of grasping motions. The main task of this thesis / training will be to build a testbed consisting of an electrode array to be applied on the user’s forearm, a fingertip force sensing setup (already present), and possibly a force myography sensor array (already present). This setup should then serve to create a calibration procedure which will select, among all stimulation electrodes available in the array, which ones are more directly conducive to flexion of single digits.
The tasks include, among others:
- Building a multiplexer-controlled electrode array to be used on the forearm.
- Interface the MyoCeption with one of our fingertip force sensing devices.
- Finding a fitting calibration procedure which ideally associates an electrode pair with a given desired finger flexion movement.
Required Qualifications
- (basic) Experience with C#
- (basic) Experience with Electronics
- (basic) Experience with optimization and calibration algorithms
Additional Qualifications (not required)
- Basic knowledge in Biosignal Processing (e.g. Filtering) and Machine Learning
- Experience with Python, Matlab, Data Analysis, Data Visualization
- Experience with 2D-Design (e.g. Inkscape/CorelDraw)
- Experience with LaTEX, Office programs, Technical Documentation (e.g. in a Wiki)