This European Commission grant (FP7, FET #611687) funds the research activities on neuro-prosthetics, neural interfaces, and neuro-controlled prosthetic hands, being pursued by the PIs of the BioRobotics Institute, since 2001. It represents, the natural evolution of two past European grants coordinated by Scuola Sant’Anna: the CYBERHAND (FP6, FET #35094) and the NEUROBOTICS (FP6, FET #1917) projects.

NEBIAS aims at developing and clinically assessing an upper limb neuro-prosthesis intuitively controlled and felt by the amputee as the natural one. This will be possible by means of a novel neural interface able to provide a stable and very selective connection with the nervous system. The interface will be capable, on the one side, of recording motor-related signals governing the actions of the amputated hand for the control of a robotic prosthesis, and on the other side of providing sensory feedback from artificial sensors in the hand through direct neural stimulation of the nerves within the residual limb (see project video).

NEBIAS is coordinated by the Scuola Sant'Anna and involves three research Areas of The Biorobotics Institute: the Translational Neural Engineering Area (under the responsability of Prof. Micera, Project Coordinator), the Artificial Hands Area and the Neuro-Robotic Touch Lab. The Consortium also includes: the Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg (Laboratory for Biomedical Microtechnology), the Universitat Autonoma Barcelona (Institute of Neuroscience), the University of Cagliari (Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering), the Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore (Institute of Neurology), the Deutsches Primatenzentrum (Reserach Group Primate Neurobiology). Further info on NEBIAS website.

You can see in the video below the selectable compliance joint with high efficiency switching for robotic applications developed in the NEBIAS project.

Funder:  European Commission
Grant No.:  611687
Period:  2013-2017 (50 months)
Funding (to AHA):  240 k€
Funding (total):  3.5 M€

Scientific Publications

Journal papers

• M. Controzzi, L. Bassi Luciani, F. Montagnani, Unified Approach to Bi-Directional Non-Back Drivable Roller Clutch Design, Mechanism and Machine Theory;
• F. Clemente, S. Dosen, L. Lonini, M. Markovic, D. Farina, C. Cipriani, Humans can Integrate Augmented Reality Feedback in their Sensorimotor Control of a Robotic Hand, IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 583-589, 2017;
• F. Montagnani, M. Controzzi, C. Cipriani, Independent Long Fingers are not Essential for a Grasping Hand, Scientific Reports, vol. 6, no. 35545, pp. 1-9, 2016;

International Conference papers

• F. Montagnani, G. Smit, M. Controzzi, C. Cipriani, D. H. Plettenburg, A passive wrist with switchable stiffness for a body-powered hydraulically actuated hand prosthesis, In Proc. of IEEE RAS/EMBS Intl. Conf. on Rehabilitation Robotics, ICORR, London, July 17-20, 2017;
• D. Barone, M. D’Alonzo, M. Controzzi, F. Clemente, C. Cipriani, A Cosmetic Prosthetic Digit with Bioinspired Embedded Touch Feedback, IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, pp. 1137-1141, London, UK, July 17-20, 2017;
• F. Montagnani, M. Controzzi, C. Cipriani, Exploiting arm posture synergies in activities of daily living to control the wrist rotation in upper limb prostheses: a feasibility study, In Proc. of Intl. Conf. of the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC, Milan, Italy, August 25-29, 2015.

PATENTS

• L. Bassi Luciani, M. Controzzi, F. Montagnani, C. Cipriani; Giunto meccanico a cedevolezza variabile, N. deposito: 102015000081936, Pending.
• L. Bassi Luciani, M. Controzzi, F. Montagnani, C. Cipriani; Giunto meccanico a modalità di trasmissione selezionabile, N. deposito: 102015000081958, Pending.