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Controlling a Robot With the Emotiv EEG Headset

Posted by timothy on from the bad-way-to-steer-a-car dept.

robotsrule writes "This video shows a WowWee Rovio mobile spy robot being piloted remotely over a Skype video call using thought, facial gestures, and head movements, with the help of the Emotiv Systems EPOC 14-electrode EEG headset with built-in gyroscope. An accompanying article explains in detail how the system works and what steps were taken with the Emotiv systems SDK to interface with the EPOC headset along with code samples. The system is based on Robodance 5, a free robot control program for consumer robot owners that will be out in beta on May 20, 2010."

9 of 33 comments (clear)

  1. Blah blah blah by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    *insert bland comment about applicability to military purposes here*
    *insert stupid comment about applicability to porn here*

    1. Re:Blah blah blah by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think any soldier prefers a trigger to operate rather than accident when he gets the hiccups. And there are already "augmented reality" systems in military use for quite a few years now. Pilots can aim with their helmet in some aircraft.
      I see more applications for people who can not use their arms, either because of safety (say, when operating hydraulic presses or other carnivorous machines), because they have their hands full with something else (like helicopter pilots), or because they are disabled.

      --
      Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
  2. Better than Mouse+Keyboard for FPS? by purpledinoz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder if this would give people an edge in Counter-Strike compared to the regular mouse+keyboard setup. If so, I hope those 12 year olds don't get a hold of it. CS:S is hard enough already!

    1. Re:Better than Mouse+Keyboard for FPS? by imakemusic · · Score: 4, Funny

      Whereas Counter-Strike is serious business?

      --
      Brain surgery - it's not rocket science!
    2. Re:Better than Mouse+Keyboard for FPS? by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sure it will, as long as they can maintain an expression of "cautiously aroused" while staring directly up and with one eye shut, jaw clenched.

      Be wary, though; If you shut the wrong eye, you drop all of your grenades at your feet and teabag them.

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    3. Re:Better than Mouse+Keyboard for FPS? by wjousts · · Score: 2, Insightful

      We're not comparing Emotiv to Counter-Strike. We are comparing Emotiv to a mouse and a keyboard. Emotiv is a toy with some great marketing spin. A mouse and a keyboard are tools that you can use to get stuff done (including playing Counter-Strike).

  3. cool...one step closer by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One step closer to getting exoskeletons built and controlled by these headsets to allow people with spinal injuries to walk again.

  4. hardly EEG by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Almost all of the degrees of freedom come from head motion and muscle artifact. EEG is very sensitive to facial muscle artifacts, and when you actually record EEG the patients have to keep very still. I've even read of EEG/TMS studies where they use botox to paralyze the scalp muscle. So every time he clenches his jaw, he obliterates the EEG signal over the frontal cortices (the part he is supposedly recording). Basically this whole apparatus is just a fancy, commercial electromyogram (EMG). You can build an EMG with off-the-shelf electronic pieces (i.e. resistors and capicitors) for probably around $10. There's essentially no EEG involved here, except making a headline. Using EMG to control a robot is done every semester in hundreds of undergraduate electronics classes.

  5. Re:Worried Sad? by dsavi · · Score: 2, Funny

    In the future: Everyone will steer robots with facial gestures and concentration. And be depressed.