40-year-old Gaurav Sharma is helping US soldiers control unmanned aerial vehicles with thoughts

team heed by Gaurav Sharma, an Indian-origin scientist, is helping US soldiers control unmanned aerial vehicles and bomb disposal robot with ir thoughts. Sharma and team have bagged a whopping $20 million contract from an ncy of defence department to develop such a system!

According to Defence vanced Research Projects ncy (DARPA), a 40-year-old Sharma, who is a senior research scientist at BattelleSharma, is among six or teams to win grants to develop brain-machine interfaces. Hequartered in Ohio, Battelle is a private nprofit applied science and techlogy development company.

Sharma and his team have been tasked to develop an vanced system called 'BrainSTORMS' (Brain System to Transmit Or Receive Magnetoelectric Signals). system could allow a soldier to put on a helmet and use his mind to control multiple unmanned aerial vehicles or even a bomb disposal robot.

It involves development of a vel na-transducer that could be temporarily injected into body directed to a specific area of brain to help complete a task through communication with a helmet-based transceiver. na-transducer will n be magnetically guided out of brain and into bloodstream to be processed out of body.

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"This is one of most exciting and challenging projects I have worked on," said Sharma.

"With BrainSTORMS, we will again be pushing limits engineering and physics. If successful, this techlogy would t only provide a safe and efficient way to facilitate human-machine interactions but also has potential to revolutionise study of nervous system," Sharma said.

Battelle received first round of funding of $2 million to demonstrate core concept of techlogy. If y succeed, Battelle will receive ditional funding for second and third phases.

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Sharma was instrumental in development of a neuroprostic techlogy named NeuroLife which helped a paralyzed patient regain control of his hand. At Battelle, Sharma is applying vanced engineering to overcome problems in human body and brain.

Battelle has for years successfully demonstrated brain-computer interface (BCI) projects. 

(With ncy inputs)