NOVEL NEURAL NETWORK DEVICE

THIS RESEARCH PROJECT IS CONCERNED WITH THE COGNITIVE AND ADAPTIVE DIFFICULTIES THAT ACCOMPANY ATTEMPTS BY DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED INDIVIDUALS TO USE CONTEMPORARY SERVOELECTRONIC DEVICES SUCH AS ROBOTS, COMPUTERS, AUTOMATIC WHEELCHAIRS, AND SIMILAR DEVICES. BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF THESE DIFFICULTIES, A UNIQUE NEURAL NETWORK ADAPTATION WILL BE DEVELOPED TO OVERCOME THE INHERENTLY FRUSTRATING PROBLEMS OF ADAPTING THESE SYSTEMS TO A DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED POPULATION. THE READY AVAILABILITY AND LOW COST OF RECENTLY INTRODUCED PC-BASED NETWORK BOARDS PROVIDE A READILY AVAILABLE MEANS TO EXAMINE THE KEY ELEMENTS IN DEVELOPING A SYSTEM THAT COMPENSATES FOR THE PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED. SPECIFIC PROJECT ACTIVITIES ARE EXAMINING VARIOUS STATE-OF-THE-ART ELEMENTS AND UNDERTAKING PRELIMINARY STUDIES ON NETWORK PARADIGMS THAT MIGHT BE EFFICACIOUS IN DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED INDIVIDUALS. RECENTLY COMPLETEDRESEARCH DEMONSTRATES THE SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS THAT ARE ATTENDANT WITH SUCCESS IN THIS DEVELOPMENT. SPECIFIC ISSUESRELATED TO TRUE INDEPENDENCE OF HANDICAPPED INDIVIDUALS WILL BE ADDRESSED, ALONG WITH THE INHERENT BENEFITS OF THE SYSTEM.