SoC Configuration for Real-Time EMG Sensing and Wireless Control of a Robotic Prosthesis

The field of the robotic prosthesis didn’t progress for decades after its debut in the 60’s, mainly because of the limits related to the kind of electrodes used and the lack of sensory feedback. This framework and the recent invention of an innovative technique for integrating the prosthesis inside the bones of a patient led to the creation of a very promising European project renamed DeTOP. Its main purpose is to develop a groundbreaking robotic prosthesis controlled by implanted electrodes and able to offer sensory feedback to the patient. Thanks to its longstanding expertise in electronics, the CSEM contributed to this project through the development of a state of the art System on Chip able to sense the electric signals collected by the implanted electrodes and generated by the muscular contraction for controlling the robotic hand in a power-efficient way. In addition, the device can control an external radio used for the wireless monitoring of the patient. This thesis presents the work carried out on the previously mentioned System on Chip. Even though it was already designed and manufactured during the beginning of the experience, the hardware wasn’t totally validated and the software for the final purpose of this chip was not fully developed. It is possible to divide this thesis into two main targets: the first one is related to create software for the robotic hand control through sensing of electromyographic signals while the second deals with a two-way wireless communication between the prosthesis and a computer.