‘Frankenstein’ project to revolutionise aged health
Computer modelling of the human eye, the brain of a rat and a robot may revolutionise advances in neuroscience and new technology, says a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) leading robotics researcher.
Dr Michael Milford, Queensland University of Technology robotics researcher, is hoping to revolutionise advances in neuroscience with his new study.
Dr Michael Milford, from QUT's Science and Engineering Faculty, says the study uses new computer algorithms to enable robots to navigate intelligently, unrestricted by high density buildings or tunnels.
“This is a very Frankenstein type of project,” Dr Milford says. “It's putting two halves of a thing together because we're taking the eyes of a human and linking them up with the brain of a rat,” he says.
A rodent's spatial memory is strong but has poor vision while humans can easily recognise where they are because of eyesight, Dr Milford claims.
“We have existing research, software algorithms in robots to model the human and rat brain. We'll plug in the two pieces of software together on a robot moving around in an environment and see what happens,” he says.
The research will also study how the human brain degrades, in particular how it fails to recognise familiar places.
“The brain's spatial navigation capabilities degrade early in diseases like Alzheimer's. So, it has relevance as a potential study mechanism for studying mental disease as well,” he says.
Dr Milford has been awarded an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship to support his study.
He is one of Australia's leading experts on developing technology to visually recognise locations and is chief investigator at the QUT based headquarters of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Robotic Vision.
He claims place recognition is a key component of navigation, but the technology to date is “limited”.
“Current robotic and personal navigation systems leave much to be desired. GPS only works in open outdoor areas, lasers are expensive and cameras are highly sensitive but in contrast, nature has evolved superb navigation systems.”
Dr Milford says the research project may have benefits for manufacturing, environmental management and aged health.
“We have very sophisticated models of human vision and a rat's brain, which are already state of the art. We've got all the ground work there but plugging them altogether is the massive challenge we have,” he says. “I don't know exactly how it's going to work and that's why it's research,” he says.
The interdisciplinary research project involves collaborations between QUT and the University of Queensland and other international institutions including Harvard, Boston and Antwerp universities.
The future fellowship is worth $676,174 over the next five years.
