Using Arduino For Mind Control

This isnt a post about using a microcontroller (MCU) to control someones mind -- its a post about how to use an Arduino device that lets you use your brainwaves to manipulate inanimate objects.

OpenBCI prototype called "Frankenboard"

Heres how the August 11 article "Building Mind-Controlled Gadgets Just Got Easier" from IEEE.org explains this new brain-computer interface (BCI).

"Their system enables DIYers to use brain waves to control anything they can hack—a video game, a robot, you name it. “It feels like there’s going to be a surge,” says Russomanno. “The floodgates are about to open.” And since their technology is open source, the creators hope hackers will also help improve the BCI itself. Their OpenBCI system makes sense of an electroencephalograph (EEG), signal, a general measure of electrical activity in the brain captured via electrodes on the scalp. The fundamental hardware component is a relatively new chip from Texas Instruments, which takes in analog data from up to eight electrodes and converts it to a digital signal. Russomanno and Murphy used the chip and an Arduino board to create OpenBCI, which essentially amplifies the brain signal and sends it via Bluetooth to a computer for processing."

Current OpenBCI board

One nice aspect of Arduino is that its getting more and more people who arent electronics experts, computer programmers or engineers involved with physical computing. The IEEE article says they are "artists who met at Parsons the New School for Design." In the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group, there is a forester, a biologist, and an artist. And wed love to have more non-engineers and others whose main experience and training is not in the field of electronics. The Arduino movement seems to encourage a whole new spectrum of people to see how they can apply MCUs and other modern electronics to their particular field of interest.

I havent quite figured out if I think OpenBCI will be around for the foreseeable future. They seem relatively legitimate, but their website appears to be either very new or not a high priority for the founders of OpenBCI. Quite a few of the webpages on the site say Under Construction. Even the Getting Started page says its under construction. But IEEE is a pretty reputable organization, and I dont think theyd have published the article if they werent comfortable that the project was legitimate. Overall, though, it appears youll get the OpenBCI hardware if you want to spend the $399 on either the 8-bit or 32-bit board kits. They also have a GitHub site that contains "the core OpenBCI hardware and software frameworks."

In addition to the IEEE August 2014 article about OpenBCI, there were a number of articles in early 2014 when OpenBCI did a successful Kickstarter campaign, getting more than twice their original goal of $100,000. Wired did an article in January 2014 titled, "These Guys Are Creating a Brain Scanner You Can Print Out at Home." The article featured a 3D printed brain scanner headset that they called the Spider Claw 3000. Heres the articles description of the brain scanner:

"Spider Claw 3000" 3D printed brain scanner

"It includes sensors and a mini-computer that plugs into sensors on a black skull-grabbing piece of plastic called the “Spider Claw 3000,” which you print out on a 3-D printer. Put it all together, and it operates as a low-cost electroencephalography (EEG) brainwave scanner that connects to your PC...You can target up to 64 locations on the scalp with a maximum of 16 electrodes at a time."

The $399 starting price for the OpenBCI is too steep for my budget, but Im sure there will be some pretty interesting developments with this equipment in the next few years. The IEEE article mentions three projects:

"Audette, the engineer from Creare, is already hacking robotic “battle spiders” that are typically steered by remote control. Audette used an OpenBCI prototype to identify three distinct brain-wave patterns that he can reproduce at will, and he sent those signals to a battle spider to command it to turn left or right or to walk straight ahead. “The first time you get something to move with your brain, the satisfaction is pretty amazing,” Audette says...In Los Angeles, a group is using another prototype to give a paralyzed graffiti artist the ability to practice his craft

Chip Audette and brain-controlled Hex Bug battle spider (from IEEE)

again. The artist, Tempt One, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease in 2003 and gradually progressed to the nightmarish “locked in” state. By 2010 he couldn’t move or speak and lay inert in a hospital bed—but with unimpaired consciousness, intellect, and creativity trapped inside his skull...They’re using OpenBCI to record the artist’s brain waves and are devising ways to use those brain waves to control the computer cursor so Tempt can sketch his designs on the screen...David Putrino, director of telemedicine and virtual rehabilitation at the Burke Rehabilitation Center, in White Plains, N.Y., says he’s comparing the open-source system to the $60,000 clinic-grade EEG devices he typically works with...Putrino hopes to use OpenBCI to build a low-cost EEG system that patients can take home from the hospital, and he imagines a host of applications. Stroke patients, for example, could use it to determine when their brains are most receptive to physical therapy, and Parkinson’s patients could use it to find the optimal time to take their medications."

I wonder what some imaginative teenagers who have a lot of time and energy on their hands will come up when they start hacking OpenBCI...

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Electronic Light Orchestra The Humboldt Laser Harp Project Launches! Part 1

Yay! The Humboldt Laser Harp microcontroller (MCU) project officially launched today. This Part 1 post about the project will give a short introduction, then Ill cover some more of the details in tomorrows post.

Ever since the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group was started back in May of this year, Ive wanted to have a couple people from the Group get together and collaborate on an MCU project. It didnt matter too much what it was, I just wanted to get the example and tradition of people coming up with a project, designing the hardware and software, figuring out how to get the components and other resources need to build the project, then debugging the first version and making iterative improvements until we had a pretty cool or interesting result.

Laser harp designed for crowd interaction

As Ive written this blog and during the biweekly Humboldt Microcontrollers Group meetings, Ive been suggesting various topics to try and get a couple people interested in one of them to the point where a project group (even just two people) would form. What I was sort of doing was throwing MCU projects against the kitchen cupboards or wall(?) like spaghetti to see if theyd stick. And one finally stuck -- at least to the point where three of us met today to determine if we wanted to actually start working together on an MCU project. And the answer to that question was, "Yes."

Laser harp with PVC pipe frame

So, Id like to introduce you to the Humboldt Laser Harp (HLH). It is the first MCU electronic musical instrument in the Electronic Light Orchestra of Humboldt County. Maybe we should call it the Humboldt Electronic Light Orchestra (HELO) so people dont get us confused with the band ELO (Electric Light Orchestra). Ill go into more detail about why the light orchestra part of the name will be appropriate when I post Part 2 or Part 3 of this series. Ill also mention other possible MCU musical instruments for the Electronic Light Orchestra, some of which have been in previous posts.

If youre reading this post and are not familiar with laser harps, take a look at my post from June titled, "Microcontrollers And A Humboldt Laser Harp." If you dont want to read that, just look for  laser harp  on Google and on YouTube.

Here are a few of the basic facts of the project:

Makezine laser harp (http://makezine.com/projects/laser-harp/)

• Right now there are three of us on the project: Ed Smith, Nick A, and Bob Waldron.
• As the project develops, Hal W and others might join in on the project.
• Ed is the lead for code and basic project design. For most questions about the project, Ed is the gatekeeper. [July 19 update: the best way to contact Ed about the project is to talk to him in person at one of the Humboldt Microcontrollers Group meetings. If you cant do that, email him at bobnova (at) humboldtmicro {dott} com.]
• Nick is the lead person for building the harp frame.
• The HLH v.1.0 will reside at Nicks house.
• Im going to sketch up some type of a black mini booth or covering designed to help see the laser beams when the laser harp is not in a darkened room.
• As indicated above, well use GitHub for the code repository and versioning, and for remote project collaboration. We discussed other options, such as DropBox, Google Docs, Texas Instruments Energia, or other services Ed might prefer that Nick and I are also ok with. Ed didnt have a strong preference, and Nick likes GitHub, so thats what we using, at least for now.
• The project will be open source, both software and hardware, to the extent possible. The parts that arent truly open source will be transparent as far as all the code and components being identified. If someone else wants to replicate what weve done, theyll be welcome to do so. (Of course, we might change our tune when someone offers us a lot of money to buy our ideas, laser harps or other MCU electronic musical instruments...)
• Bob will work with Josh Cowles or others to figure out the appropriate open source licenses to put on the pieces of this project that can accurately be called open source.
• Were probably going to have six lasers in version 1.0 of the HLH, but well think about MCU and other hardware capabilities in terms of being able to easily expand the design to a twelve laser harp and put in hooks or code blocks that make it easy to convert the programs from six-laser to a twelve-laser design.
• Nick will put a post about the project on the Humboldt Makers Google Group mailing list, and possibly on online sites that could give the project favorable visibility.

A true laser harp

In tomorrows post, Ill cover some of the other details discussed in todays meeting. If you have questions or comments about the HLH, send them to me at arcatabob (at) gmail {dott} com.

If you know of other people in Humboldt County who have already built a laser harp or who play a laser harp, please share their contact info with me, or at least their name. Wed love to connect and talk laser harp technology with them.

We look forward to a long and illustrious career for the Electronic Light Orchestra of Humboldt!

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Make Your Android Phone A Programmable Robot

If youve got a recent Android phone with modern sensors, a current Kickstarter project aims to turn that phone into a programmable robot.

Hippo-ADK basic board

The Hippo-ADK (Android Development Kit?) is profiled on Tech In Asia in the article, "This startup turns your Android phone into a fully programmable robot." While previous coverage of the Hippo-ADK, such as this Hack A Day post, focused mainly on the self-balancing capability of a two-wheeled robot made with Hippo-ADK and a gyroscope-equipped Android phone, the Tech In Asia article makes it clear the concept is to make good use of whatever sensors are in the phone.

"The mass adoption of Arduino opened up hardware prototyping to the world, serving as a common platform and large community for millions of hobbyists and professionals. But even though an Arduino board only costs about US$25, finding and purchasing many of the other components can be time consuming and expensive. That’s why Shenzhen-based Hippo Devices is developing a new, easier to use controller board called Hippo-ADK. The device plugs into a user’s Android phone, allowing it to utilize the phone’s proximity sensor, gyroscope, Bluetooth, camera, and other features. “Everyone has a mobile phone, why not make use of it? Why not make use of these $300 worth of sensors that everyone already has?” says Hippo’s

Hippo-LEGO shield

marketing coordinator...Besides saving money on sensors, Hippo-ADK doesn’t require learning a new programming language like Arduino. Hippo offers a graphical drag-and-drop programming environment...the Java API...If you’re an Arduino junkie and you prefer to stick to your guns but would still like an easy way to take advantage of your phone hardware, it’s compatible with Arduino hardware and software...It comes equipped with several extra sensors baked into the board, including infrared, which can control home appliances like air conditioners and thermostats..."

Hippo-Arduino shield

As mentioned in the article above, you can put your Arduino knowledge to good use with the Hippo-ADK, but you might also feel compelled to expand into some App Inventor or Java programming if you pick up some of the Hippo hardware. Arduino seems almost to be used by Hippo as a marketing tool, saying that they are "combining an Arduino-like microcontroller board with Android." Their board uses an STMicroelectronics microcontroller, not an Atmel MCU. The Arduino hardware Hippo is providing at this point is the Hippo-Arduino, a shield that connects Hippo-ADK and Arduino (see picture at right).

Instructables Hippo

The Kickstarter original funding goal of $10,000 has been met, but this isnt one of the viral crowdfunding projects at this point. With 14 days left, the total raised as of the evening of August 14 is $16,457. One aspect that may have caused some people to hold off on supporting the campaign is that building a self-balancing two-wheeled robot will cost significantly more than the $39 (early bird) or $49 for the Hippo-ADK. It looks like it would end up being a couple hundred dollars for all the parts for a self-balancing robot, assuming youre starting with an Android phone that has a gyroscope you can use for robot balance control. If youre interested in building that self-balancing robot, Hippo posted an Instructables for that.

Heres a bit of what the Kickstarter page says about the Hippo-ADK:

"Hippo-ADK connects with your Android devices in real time through USB and Bluetooth.This allows you instant access to sensors,switches, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, communication modules (Wi-Fi, GPS, GSM), cameras, and LCD screens without even having to spend a dollar on optional parts. It is all on your Android devices...If you want to expand the capabilities of our firmware you can use Arduino language and IDE to program Hippo-ADK...For beginners, use the graphical programming platform App Inventor to create your first “Hello World” Hippo-ADK project in less than 10 minutes. For the more experienced, enjoy the variety of high-level customization available by our Java API...For those who want to make even cooler stuff with Hippo-ADK such as robots and intelligent homes, we provide expansion boards and modules to facilitate more rapid development."

I like the concept of using the power and features of a smartphone to help power a robot. And the Hippo is certainly not the first -- there are other robots powered or enhanced with smartphones, including Romo and SmartBot. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) even had a January 2014 article titled "Smartphone Robots Could Be About to Invade Our Homes." The real question is what the killer app will be for phone-carrying robots. Part of the challenge for mass production is the huge array of phone sensors, features, processors and operating system versions on the billions of cell phones being used around the world. Connecting your phone to your robot will be commonplace when it has clear benefits, as opposed to doing it because you can. As the head of iRobot Corp. said in the WSJ article,

Hippo non-balancing robot

"...the challenge is to meaningfully integrate a mobile device and a robot. "Are you connected because of a fad or because the customer experience is greatly enhanced by the addition of this technology?"

Im looking forward to the first phone-bot that figures out the answer to this question. Not only will our robots be able to do more and be more interesting, Im betting our phones will see new innovations, sensors and capabilities if theyre frequently used to enhance our personal robots.

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