Steady state VEP-based BCI to control a five-digit robotic hand using LabVIEW

Abstract

This paper proposes steady state visual evoked potential signals for control of five digit robotic hand using LabVIEW as software platform. The experimental setup consist of Ag/Agcl electrodes with 10-20 gel, a low cost, rechargeable battery operated EEG amplifier, a handmade simulation panel flickering at a frequency of 21 Hz with light emitting diode as source, LabVIEW as software platform to implement wavelet analysis for feature extraction and linear discriminant analysis for classification and NI USB-DAQ to provide an interface between EEG acquisition and robotic hand. A state machine chart algorithm using PWM technique is implemented for speed control of miniature metal gear DC motor with 71 RPM, positioned in robotic hand. The experiment was carried out for five different subjects with each subject undergoing five trials, of which in each trial, subject undergoes two recordings of SSVEP signals. Experimental results indicate that the subject's SSVEP signals were used to control the robotic hand to pick up a woollen ball in achieving an accuracy of 84% and mean time of 44.6 seconds.