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> The M3C program seeks multidisciplinary teams to conduct transformative
> research to understand fundamental principles of coupled human motor functions
> involving forceful physical interactions and their control by managing and
> influencing the neural activity of the brain.  This may include basic tasks
> such as dexterous manipulations and fine motor control of the hand, walking,
> and more complex tasks needing specially acquired motor skills - e.g. in
> specific sports activities.  Proposers are encouraged to consider and include
> sensory-motor functions encountered in the real world, where humans do not act
> in a vacuum but are physically and mentally coupled to other things (objects,
> tools, machines, other people) in their environment.  On the horizon of
> M3C-related work will be the creation of systems that seamlessly integrate
> "human", and "machine".  To realize these systems, experimentally-verified,
> quantitative, mathematical theories of human sensory-motor control that do not
> treat humans in isolation are urgently needed.  Research and education in M3C
> draw from neuroscience, neuroengineering and neuromechanics, but projects
> responsive to the needs of the M3C program will place a clear emphasis on
> human motor behavior that involves physical interaction with application to
> engineering design.  In doing so, these projects will integrate aspects of
> other fields that may include biomechanics, musculoskeletal dynamics,
> sensorimotor physiology, dynamics, control, optimization, and systems
> engineering.
>
> Human-machine interaction, brain-machine interfaces, actuator and sensor
> design, therapeutic and entertainment robotics, orthotics and exoskeletons,
> prosthetics, motor neuroscience, and motor learning are some areas of current
> research activity that could serve as a basis for a well thought out research
> program.  M3C responsive proposals should lead to a transformative
> understanding of mind, machine, and motor control and may include applications
> that deal with issues related to: (i) enhancement of human motor capabilities
> (assistance, rehabilitation, and augmentation) and the broad area of (ii)
> connecting physical human-machine interactions and mental representations.
>
> Successful proposals will focus on one or more of the following three key
> themes listed in (A), will leverage one or more of the emerging tools and
> technologies listed in (B), and will establish clear relevance to one or more
> of the application areas listed in (C).
> 1.  Key Themes
>>> A.1 Learning and Skill Acquisition:    Bicycles and violins are machines
>>> that take time to learn how to use properly.  Without understanding the
>>> dynamics of this learning process, in particular the correlation between
>>> initial and ultimate levels of performance, it is difficult to
>>> systematically design and evaluate alternative designs.  This problem
>>> becomes worse for machines that actively co-adapt - for example, a
>>> brain-machine interface that learns a map from neural activity to user
>>> intent, or a lower-limb prosthesis that learns how to walk over varied
>>> terrain in a way that minimizes the user's metabolic cost - but this type of
>>> co-adaption is critical to performance.  A key part of any quantitative
>>> theory of human sensory-motor control must be a theory of motor learning.
>>>
>>> A.2 Power transfer between a Human and a Machine:   There is a general lack
>>> of theory predicting the physiological response to significant power
>>> transfer between a human and a machine.  How can we predict the energetic
>>> cost of walking with an exoskeleton or a prosthetic before doing
>>> pre-clinical tests?  How can we derive control and sensing strategies for
>>> these devices without trial and error?  These questions must be answered in
>>> order to make the work generalizable.  For example, what is the right
>>> balance between providing assistance and causing disuse atrophy with a
>>> powered prosthesis or orthosis?
>>>
>>> A.3 Pre-clinical Evaluation:   Collaboration between engineers, scientists,
>>> and clinicians can help improve pre-clinical evaluation.  For example,
>>> analysis of robotic therapy integrates many different issues including
>>> coordination, strength, and stabilization.  Furthermore, the process of
>>> human walking is a whole-body process, not something that can be confined to
>>> an analysis of the lower limbs.  What metrics should be used for evaluation?
>>> Is it possible to treat coordination, strength, stability, etc. separately?
>>>  M3C researchers must try to answer some of these basic questions in order
>>> to deal with more complex issues.
> 1.  Tools and Technologies
>>> B.1 Robotics:  Use of robotic devices that enable functional experiments
>>> outside of the laboratory either directly or via telemanipulation
>>> (leveraging wireless communication and other technologies).
>>>
>>> B.2 Imaging: Use of biophysical sensors that allow detailed assessment of
>>> neural and muscular activity during physical human-machine interactions (in
>>> particular, neuromuscular activity that relates to hierarchical or
>>> higher-level cognitive function).
>>>
>>> B.3 Feedback: Use of targeted stimulation or other mechanisms for sensory
>>> substitution that explicitly close feedback loops in order to enhance
>>> functional performance during human-machine interaction.
> 1.  Application Areas
>>> C.1 Medical/Healthcare Applications:  Engineered devices and systems,
>>> emphasizing mind, machines, and motor control that are assistive,
>>> therapeutic, or compensatory; enable mobility and independence, and
>>> facilitate physical interaction with the real world.
>>>
>>> C.2 Industrial Applications:   Robotic machines with a direct physical
>>> coupling to humans that may include areas such as telemanipulation,
>>> assembly, exoskeletons, and cargo handling.  M3C research should have a
>>> transformative impact on designing and engineering these types of robotic
>>> machines.
>>>
>>> C.3 Consumer Applications:  Machines that work side by side with humans in
>>> the home, office, and elsewhere that could transition from concept to
>>> reality without having to do many years of testing will benefit from M3C
>>> research on human motor control.
>
> Required Mind, Machines, and Motor Control (M3C) Elements:
>
> To be considered for the M3C EFRI program, proposals must  be primarily
> centered on human motor functions under forceful physical interaction that are
> appropriately augmented with ideas and experiments from neuroscience and
> related disciplines.  Proposals must involve three or more investigators, and
> must include at least one from an engineering discipline and another
> investigator with neuroscience, behavioral psychology, cognitive science,
> medicine, or neurobiology expertise.  The more competitive proposals will
> address at least two of the following M3C elements:
>>
>> M3C1) Experimentally validated theories of human-sensory motor control that
>> will lead to predictive models to enable the design of machines for forceful
>> physical interaction and cooperation with humans.
>>
>> M3C2) Perceptual and cognitive science based approaches that are primarily
>> concerned with representing mental states that result from forceful physical
>> interactions between human and machine.
>>
>> M3C3)  Model constructs with validation and verification enabling
>> understanding and/or explanation of one or more important human sensory motor
>> control functions.
>
> Proposals that focus exclusively on signal processing and computation (e.g.,
> to study how networks of neurons encode information), on technology
> development (e.g., for persons with disability) that does not result in new
> theoretical foundations, or on infrastructure (e.g., sensor networks for data
> collection) are not expected to be competitive.