Proto_2
Proto 2
DARPA innovation initiative
Proto 2 is the name of the $55 million initiative of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to create a thought-controlled prosthetic arm. Its predecessor was called Proto 1 and was capable of reasonably complicated movements like rolling the shoulders, wrists, flexing the fingers. etc.
Proto 2 is a critical milestone of thought-controlled mechanical arms. It is complete with hand and articulated fingers—that can perform 25 joint motions. This dexterity approaches that of a real arm (which makes about 30 motions)- a great improvement over the Proto 1. A person wearing a Proto 2 could "conceivably play the piano".[1]
The next steps are to shrink the battery, develop more-efficient motors, and refine the bulky electrodes used to read electrical signals in muscles.