Sensitive Brain-Computer Interface to help manoeuvre a Miniature Wheelchair using Electroencephalography

Abstract

Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) serves as the pathway of communication between the brain and any other external entity. It’s an emerging field and has its applications in various industries including bio-medicines. The Electroencephalographs (EEG) or brainwaves are captured and analysed using NeuroSky Mind-wave mobile headset to yield Attention, Meditation and Eye Blink Strength. EEGs are first non-invasive technique to efficiently record the various electric signals produced by neurons. The EEG signals are utilised to design BCI using Arduino micro-controller to help manoeuvre a miniature wheelchair. The system was developed with minimal cost and ensures minimal setup time. Three different combinations of attention, meditation and eye blink strength were used to design algorithms for comparative analysis of the reliability of the system. Three experiments with four trials each were conducted on the six subjects. The experimental results show that attention and meditation are not easily controlled and the system has minimum deviation of merely 1.22 turns in case of eyeblink strength experiment.