[Cyborg] [Noisebridge-discuss] brain-controlled robotics project

Rachel McConnell rachel at xtreme.com
Thu Nov 11 22:28:01 UTC 2010


Steve, this sounds fantastic. I will be there with BELLS ON!  Or at
least I'll skip and jump.

Forwarding to Cyborg and EEG lists on the off chance that anyone on
those lists isn't on -discuss.

Rachel

Steve Castellotti wrote:
> Hey all--
> 
>      I just wanted to send a quick word of introduction to the group.
> 
>      My name is Steve. I swung over this past Tuesday evening along with 
> the Make:SF crew, and hung around the next several hours meeting a fair 
> few of you.
> 
> 
>      I've been managing an Open Source project for the past year which 
> is geared towards teaching kids (ages 10+ or so) a little bit of 
> neuroscience, helping them build robots out of LEGO Mindstorms, then 
> control and race them with their brains using consumer-grade EEG headsets.
> 
> 
>      Here is a brief demonstration video:
> 
> http://brainstorms.puzzlebox.info/index.php?entry=entry100923-100000
> 
> 
>      And here is the project website:
> 
> http://brainstorms.puzzlebox.info
> 
> 
> 
>      The current version of the software measures attention and 
> relaxation levels using a NeuroSky MindSet, translating those into 
> acceleration levels sent to the robots. Basic support for the Emotiv 
> EPOC is also available, although for classroom use I've been leaning 
> towards the former as it has dry sensors (where kids are concerned, wet 
> + heads = bad) and is easy to put on and start using without much 
> fiddling about.
> 
>      There's a variety of paradigms for controlling the robots and 
> several new types of "games" planned on the roadmap, but for the moment 
> the software is working and in active use in at least one classroom on 
> the East coast (Incidentally I am looking for more local schools which 
> might be interested to get involved). The focus is now on building up 
> case studies and fleshing out the teaching materials to better integrate 
> into existing curriculum.
> 
> 
>      Last night I brought round the remote control for a small RC 
> helicopter, and with a great deal of help from Milo, Anthony, John, and 
> a few others we managed to almost completely reverse-engineer the 
> circuit board and transmitter's communications protocol. I'd like to 
> extend a huge thanks to those guys for sticking around past 2 AM to help 
> bang it all out!
> 
> 
>      I'm planning to bring in my gear on Monday for the electronics 
> hacking session. I'll have the NeuroSky and Emotiv headsets, my LEGO 
> kit, and the RC helicopter (assuming I can managed to transport it all) 
> and would be happy to show anyone interested how it all hangs together. 
> With any luck I will already be on my way to getting the RC helicopter 
> to fly via the software. The intention is to pick up a second helicopter 
> and be able to have races in which two people compete to achieve and 
> maintain high enough levels of focus to keep the helicopters in the air 
> and be first to cross the finish line.
> 
> 
>      Thanks again for everyone's help and looking forward to catching up 
> with folks come Monday.
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> 



More information about the Cyborg mailing list