This book has its origins in a meeting entitled ‘‘Toward Replacement Parts for the Brain: Intracranial Implantation of Hardware Models of Neural Circuitry,’’ that took place in Washington, D.C., in August 1999. The meeting was sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the University of Southern California (USC) Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering, and the USC Center for Neural Engineering. The motivation for the meeting was a growing realization among neuroscientists, engineers, and medical researchers that our society was on the threshold of a new era in the field of neural prosthetics; namely, that in the near future it would be possible to mathematically model the functional properties of different regions or subregions of the brain, design and fabricate microchips incorporating those models, and create neuron/silicon interfaces to integrate microchips and brain functions. In this manner, our rapidly increasing understanding of the computational and cognitive properties of the brain could work synergistically with the continuing scientific and technological revolutions in biomedical, computer, and electrical engineering to realize a new generation of implantable devices that could bidirectionally communicate with the brain to restore sensory, motor, or cognitive functions lost through damage or disease.

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A novel linear stepper piezoelectric actuator is reported in this paper. We designed the configuration of the actuator and fabricated its prototype. A testing system was set up to examine its dynamic characteristic. It has been found that the actuator moves in stepping mode under lower pulse frequency and achieves the highest velocity and the longest range when the duration of high level is 1 ms. The new actuator has a displacement resolution of 0.1
m and a maximum velocity of 0.6 mm/s. Its load may be 200 g and its range may be several centimeters. Besides, it also has a simple configuration and is easy to be controlled. A high precision positioning system can be achieved with it.

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Walking machines have been attempted since the beginning of the technology of transportation machinery with the aim to overpass the limits of wheeled systems by looking at legged solutions in nature. But only since the last part of the 20-th century very efficient walking machines have been conceived, designed, and built with good performances that are suitable for practical appli-cations carrying significant payload with relevant flexibility and versatility. In this chapter we have presented a survey of the variety of current solutions and prototypes of walking machines and we have illustrated fundamental characteristics and problems for their design and operation. The worldwide feasibility of walking machines is presented by discussing the activity at LARM: Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics in Cassino (Italy) as concerning with low-cost easy-operation solutions that can really make the walking machines available to non expert users for many applications.

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The first energetically autonomous lower extremity exoskeleton capable of carrying a payload has been demonstrated at U.C. Berkeley. This paper summarizes the mechanical design of the Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX). The anthropomorphically-based BLEEX has seven degrees of freedom per leg, four of which are powered by linear hydraulic actuators. The selection of the degrees of freedom and their ranges of motion are described. Additionally, the significant design aspects of the major BLEEX components are covered.

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This document describes the state of the art in the three main research fields of the project: haptic technology, advanced shape modeling technology and cognitive ergonomics. The present document is the third version of the original document issue which includes an update of state of the art concerning haptic devices and exoskeleton.

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