Computer inputs are not just limited to keyboards and mice. We can use sensors to measure light levels, acceleration, and perhaps our brain! Ildar Rakhmatulin’s PiEEG project, last seen back in 2023, now comes in the form of the PiEEG Bio Lab with everything that you need to read and analyze your brain and body signals. The project is coming soon on IndieGoGo.
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At the heart of the kit is the aforementioned PiEEG HAT, the same HAT that we saw back in 2023. But this time the PiEEG is part of a larger “Bio Lab” in a briefcase that now includes a custom PCB and screen. The PCB has breakouts for the GPIO, SPI, I2C, power and a web of sensors that connect to a “Snoopy cap” which is one of the included interfaces between your brain and the Raspberry Pi. The cap is used to read the electrical activity of the brain (electroencephalogram, EEG) but the kit also has sensors that can be used for electrooculogram (EOG to measure how the retina reacts to light/dark by outputting a voltage), electrocardiogram (ECG measures the electrical activity of the heart) and electromyography (EMG measure the electrical activity of muscles).
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The PCB also features a series of sensors for oxygen saturation, contact temperature, sound, air quality and air temperature and humidity. These can be used to gather environmental data alongside the EEC, ECG, EMG, EOG data.
Also present on the board is a “Robot control” interface. This isn’t a dedicated series of motor controllers and logic used to control an external robot. Instead it provides a serial interface from which the external robot can receive control signals. This could be a robot arm, controlled via ECG that reads the impulses of your brain and interprets them as movement for the arm. The example video shows a servo-controlled robot arm, and I believe it uses serial servos.
So what can we do with all of this? The potential applications vary from the already mentioned controlling a robot arm, to meditation, and stress control. The kit can also be used (if you have the skills and resources) to control an exoskeleton or a drone. Basically, if you can connect it up to a Raspberry Pi, then you can connect it up to PiEEG.
In the video, the kit is being used with a Raspberry Pi 5 (two USB 3.0 ports and the Ethernet port is on the left of the USB ports). It should also be compatible with older models, but your performance may suffer.
The kit is contained in a case that measures 27 x 17.5 x 6.5cm (10.6 x 6.9 x 2.56 inches) and looks very “medical,” with a hard shell and metal clasp to protect the contents. Power comes from an external USB battery of your choosing — there are no internal batteries supplied.
Software support is via Python, with an accompanying Python module used to simplify reading and interpreting the data. There is also a supporting Python course to help the user learn more about the signals and how they can be used.
PiEG Bio Lab is coming soon to Indiegogo and right now we have no details on when it will start. Remember that funding a project on Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, etc is making an investment in a project that may or may not result in a finished product shipped to you. You are not purchasing a completed product.