Mind Controlled Wheel Chair

Project Title

Mind Controlled Wheel Chair

Project Area of Specialization RoboticsProject Summary

This project describes a non-invasive Brain-actuated Wheelchair which acquires the signals from various electrodes placed according to the International 10-20 electrode setup for Electroencephalograph (EEG). The brain signals are processed to determine the direction of the movement of the wheelchair. It has been shown that the patient is able to achieve EEG controlled cursor, limb movement, a prosthesis control and even has successfully communicated by means of a Brain-computer Interface (BCI). The signals are detected to observe the path to estimate the movement of the wheelchair. The specific signals have been observed for the sensing of the left and right directions. A very prominent disturbance has been observed in the signal from P3 and T5 electrodes for the left turn signal and a similar disturbance is observed for the P4 and T6 electrodes for the right turn signal. The work presented here mainly uses simple unipolar electrode to capture EEG from the forehead to build a control for electric wheelchairs through Bluetooth for paralyzed patients. We have normalized ?, ?, ? and ? waves to construct two signals such as meditation and attention. Additionally, we can also extract the eye-blinking signals from BCI. Therefore, attention and eye-blinking signals can be collected as the control signals through a Bluetooth interface and an electrical interface is used for the electric wheelchair. Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) do not rely on muscular activity and can therefore provide communication and control for people with devastating neuromuscular disorders such as the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, brainstem stroke, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury

Project Objectives

As a result of a variety of accidents or diseases such as a spinal cord injury (SCI) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), many people suffer from a severe loss of motor function. These people are forced to accept a reduced quality of life, depending on the care of other individuals. Even though useful human-computer interfaces based on speech or biometrics have been developed to communicate with computers, most of them are aimed at providing people without disabilities with more convenient or advanced means, while neglecting individuals with severe disabilities. Thus, the needs for a novel interface to help the disabled leading a more improved life have been addressed, and corresponding effort has also been made in the fields related to rehabilitation engineering and user interface (UI) development.

Project Implementation Method

The brain waves have a tendency to react to any stimuli provided but the amount of change of the microvolt acquired from the EEG varies in each and every individual. The only similarity in the signals is the section of the brain which responds to the similar kind of stimuli. All these waves also have an inter dependency as the transfer of the signals are observed by the neurons and every neuron sends the data to every other neuron in its neighbour and finally the shortest possible route to that part of the brain is decided and followed. Recently there has been a large impulse on the research and development of braincontrolled devices for rehabilitation. Following the brain-actuated robot control, there have been some attempts to develop a brain-actuated wheelchair. Some devices follow the clinical protocol where the EEG signals are synchronized with external cues, using one of the common event-related potentials (Evoked potentials in the human brain associated with external stimuli). For example, the wheelchair concept developed jointly by Leuven and IDIAP. This device was based on an asynchronous protocol that analyses on-going EEG activity to determine the subject’s mental state, which can change at any time. The system deciphers the subject’s steering directions (forward, right and left) and uses an obstacle avoidance system that executes the navigation.

Benefits of the Project

The wheelchair without the tiresome turning of the wheels is a simple step ahead of the electric wheelchairs. It may prove beneficial for every individual for locomotion purposes without the need of manual labour. The simultaneous EEG acquisition may detect any substantial improvement in the condition of the body.The developments in the field of brain-computer interface are a juvenile step towards the improvements of the wheelchair. The wheelchair controls only 2 wheels whereas the same condition may be used to drive a car with 4 wheels. The functionality of the brain can be used to trounce many other manual works at industries as well as at house-hold levels. The day-to-day gadgets may be evolved to work using mind waves.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The project is an improvement done to the already present brain-actuated wheelchair. The impression of this chair is the quick fixation of the headset to the person’s head and the connection through the Bluetooth allowing free movement with respect to a computer or LabVIEW module fixed onto the wheelchair. LabVIEW software provides an easy software making and supports in the controlling of the wheels of the wheelchair. The mechatronic design of the brain-actuated wheelchair The simple construction of the setup allows the voltages from the electrodes to be read by the EEG setup and the corresponding values to be displayed on the computer. The data can directly be sent to LabVIEW software where the values are manipulated according to the requirements and then the coding is done to interface the wheelchair with respect to the signals acquired. The navigation system finalises on the functioning of the motors and selects the control using the software. In this paper, we proposed a novel and simple technology incorporate interactivity value in a wireless BCI system and a drive circuit to control the electric wheelchair. In the 4 proposed BCI system, it has a compact size with low power consumption. And, the proposed BCI system allows human and machine to communicate easily and supplies real-time to translate brain and eye-blinking waves to commands of the drive circuit like ?turn direction?, ?moving forward?, or ?stop? to control the wheelchair.

Final Deliverable of the Project HW/SW integrated systemCore Industry HealthOther IndustriesCore Technology NeuroTechOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Good Health and Well-Being for PeopleRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	70000
n j	Equipment	700	100	70000