EEG control of an industrial robot manipulator

Abstract

This paper presents and demonstrates a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) system for EEG control of an industrial robot manipulator. An Emotiv EPOC device is applied for the recording of the brain activity. The developed BCI system registers the brain rhythmic activity through electrodes situated on the scalp. The recognition of the brain activity is associated with facial expressions and cognitive actions related to the movement of a virtual 3D cube. The user is able to control a robot manipulator in the joint space as well as in the cartesian space using brain activity associated with facial expressions and cognitive actions. A training procedure is provided for cognitive actions and is tested with different users through short training sessions. The experiments and results showed that the users were able to manage and control the robot manipulator to reach one desired position simulating a “pick and place” industrial task.