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My algebraic theory of surgery gives the following approach to the definition of the Kervaire invariant. Let $Q_n(C,\gamma)$ be the Weiss twisted quadratic $Q$-group defined for any chain bundle $(C,\gamma)$. A spherical fibration $\nu:X \to BG(k)$ determines a chain bundle $(C(X),\gamma(\nu))$ with a Hurewicz-style group morphism $h:\pi^S_{n+k}(T(\nu)) \to Q_n(C(X),\gamma(\nu))$ from the stable homotopy groups of the Thom space $T(\nu)$. An $n$-dimensional geometric Poincare complex $X$ (e.g. an $n$-dimensional manifold) has a canonical class of pairs $(\nu_X:X \to BG(k),\rho_X:S^{n+k} \to T(\nu_X))$ with $\nu_X$ the Spivak normal fibration (= sphere bundle of the normal bundle of an embedding $X \subset S^{n+k}$ for a manifold $X$). A fibre homotopy trivialization $b:\nu_X \simeq *:X \to BG(k)$ (e.g. one determined by a framing of a manifold) determines a morphism $Q_n(C(X),\gamma(\nu_X)) \to {\mathbb Z}_2$ such that the image of $h(\rho_X)$ is the Kervaire invariant $K(X,b)\in {\mathbb Z}_2$. More generally, a Wu-orientation $b$ of $X$ (for which Browder's 1969 Annals paper The Kervaire invariant of framed manifolds and its generalization is a good reference) determines a morphism $Q_n(C(X),\gamma(\nu_X)) \to {\mathbb Z}_8$ such that the image of $h(\rho_X)$ is the Brown generalized Kervaire invariant $K(X,b)\in {\mathbb Z}_8$. Most of this is already explained in my paper Algebraic Poincare cobordism.