A group of neuroscientists and software engineers at the University of Waterloo’s Computational Neuroscience Research Group (CNRG) have built the world’s largest functional model of the human brain. Named Spaun, the simulated brain has a digital eye which it uses for visual input, and a robotic arm that it uses to draw its responses. The robotic arm, the output system, was modeled using MapleSim.Using MapleSim, Travis and the team constructed a 9-muscle, 3-link (shoulder, elbow and wrist) arm model, based on the model presented in a paper by Dr. Kenji Tahara. The muscles in the arm were constructed in MapleSim based on the Hill muscle model. The controller was modeled in MATLAB®, and MapleSim’s connectivity to MATLAB® via the Maple engine, provided seamless integration between the two systems.More details about the Spaun project and this model are available here.
