machine Archives – THINK Magazine

Blockchain: Not just bitcoin

Blockchain is still a big unknown, even for some professionals. Blockchain and the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) have been made infamous by Bitcoin, a digital payment and peer-to-peer monetary transaction system that bypasses banks and third party endorsements. But DLT and the Blockchain protocol can be used for other purposes. Blockchain’s greatest strength lies in its decentralised architecture. It allows transactions to be shared openly across independent nodes, verified by encrypted checksums that give each closed block a distinct, indelible signature. All these connected transactions, chained within a common system, make tampering practically impossible. Blockchain is irrevocable, affordable, flexible, and secure.

But what about other applications of these concepts. What if we were to apply such technology to every data exchange? Data and information in the digital age is spearheading the evolution of services and product development, serving a continuum of user demands at all levels and scales, boosting research and innovation applications. Indeed, data is nowadays considered a key ingredient for competitiveness, and this is not about to change anytime soon.

The greatest bottleneck is data sharing. Data production is growing and covering many realms but unfortunately most of it remains locked up in closed databases, enterprises, and institutions. Unofficially it is estimated that the world generates 16 zettabytes of data annually (that’s 16 billion terabyte laptops), but only 1% is analysed. The problem is that data is withheld by data collectors who consider data hoarding to be a right. Where data is released it does not usually flow to users. As a result, we now have institutions running massive centralised databases, often conducting data archaeology, compiling it at local, regional, and global scales. They address the needs of different user groups, but they also impose licensing procedures that ultimately restrain the power of free data flows, establishing unnecessary monopolies.

Blockchain can unleash the full power of data by providing a system for seamless, efficient and secure data transactions. It can lead to so many applications, such as eliminating the need for shipping documents in the transportation of goods, and making the freight and logistics industry more time and cost efficient. Data could be funnelled into artificial intelligence systems to create high performance human-machine interfaces, self-automated robots, cars, and ships. These devices, with information from big data, would be able to learn from their mistakes and autonomously adapt to changing environments. In medicine, large data sets would prove priceless in drug and treatment design, doing away with the constraints of limited sample sizes. The application of such technologies is limited only by our own imagination.

A new digital revolution is looming ahead. Are we ready to be amongst the first to take this leap into the future?

Author: Prof. Aldo Drago

Using Muscle Activity To Control Machines

Independent living is important to everyone. However, it is a known fact that there are many cases where physical problems prevent people from living without care. To help people regain some independence in their lives there are systems such as Human to Machine Interfaces (HMI). Systems such as these work by using biosignals like Electromyographic (EMG) signals that can be used to control assistive devices. However, some have their drawbacks: prosthetic arms, for instance, are one commonly used device that are at times abandoned due to a lack of dexterity and precision.

The problem is that most of these devices make use of sequential control, where only one function can be articulated at a time— meaning fluid, life-like motions are impossible. Now, most daily activities need simultaneous movement with multiple degrees of freedom. And it is this need that is pushing the creators of these devices to create simultaneous control to mimic real life movements.

Christian Grech (supervised by Dr Tracey Camilleri and co-supervised by Dr Ing. Marvin Bugeja) has developed a system which allows the control of the position of a robotic arm by using the muscle activity of a person. This consists of an HMI which continuously provides the shoulder and elbow joint positions using surface muscle movements. Grech tested the model to develop more freedom, which would lead to fluid movements. He investigated three types of system identification methods (state space models, linear regression models, and neural networks) to develop this relationship between muscle activity and corresponding joint angles. Additionally, seven different movements were tested in real-time using a robotic arm. Grech managed to develop a model that allows prosthetic arms to be used more naturally.

Of course, more research is needed to perfect this device. Ideally it would operate without delay and with minimal user discomfort. The Department of Systems & Control Engineering is carrying out more research to continue to improve the accuracy and robustness of such myoelectric (EMG) controlled devices.