BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE

Lakshmi durga**
** Luckyreddy.595@gmail.com

Shashikar**
**Samboor.shashikar@gmail.com

Bhargav ram**
** bhargavseetha@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Traditionally the brain has been under constant research and the source of numerous technologies. One such
technology, brain-computer interface, is the extraction of brain signals and their use in real time applications .The brain
consists of three main regions of which the cerebellum is focused on by this technology. This technology uses electrodes to
extract signals from corresponding regions of the brain and use these signals to operate devices. This paper gives an idea
about the brain-computer interface and its applications. Extraction of brain signals from various regions of the brain using
both invasive and noninvasive techniques and the use of this signal in real time applications has been shown in this paper
with the development of Brain Controlled Car (BCC), a device for persons with physical disabilities. In this paper the
technology has been taken a step further with the design of the BCC that provides mobility to persons with motor immobility.
The car works on the asynchronous mechanism of Artificial Intelligence. It is a great advance of technology which will make
the disabled fit for doing everything a normal man does.
KEYWORDS: Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), Brain Controlled Car (BCC), Electroencephalography, Bio Control System,
Electromechanical Control Unit.
1. INTRODUCTION
A brain-computer interface uses electrophysiological
signals to control remote devices. Most current BCIs are
not invasive. They consist of electrodes applied to the
scalp of an individual or worn in an electrode cap, these
electrodes pick up the brains electrical activity (at the
microvolt level) and carry it into amplifiers such as the
ones shown in Figure1.These amplifiers amplify the signal
approximately ten thousand times and then pass the
signal via an analog to digital converter to a computer
for processing . The computer processes the EEG
Signal and uses it in order to accomplish tasks such as
communication and environmental control. BCIs are slow
in comparison with normal human actions, because of the
complexity and noisiness of the signals used, as well as
the time necessary to complete recognition and signal
processing. The phrase Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)
when taken literally means to interface an individuals
electrophysiological signals with a computer. A true BCI
only uses signals from the brain and as such must treat
eye and muscle movements as artifacts or noise. On the
other hand, a system that uses eye, muscle, or other body
potentials mixed with EEG signals, is a brain-body
actuated system. The BCI system uses oscillatory
ElectroEncephaloGram (EEG) signals, recorded during
specific mental activity, as input and provides a control
option by its output. The obtained output signals are
presently evaluated for different purposes, such as

cursor control, selection of letters or words, or control

of prosthesis. People who are paralyzed or have other
severe movement disorders need alternative methods for
communication
and
control. Currently
available
augmentative communication methods require some
muscle control. Whether they use one muscle group to
supply the function normally provided by another (e.g.,
use extra ocular muscles to drive a peech synthesizer)
.Thus, they may not be useful for those who are totally
paralyzed (e.g., by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
or brainstem stroke) or have other severe motor
disabilities. These individuals need an alternative
communication channel that does not depend on muscle
control.

Figure1: A 32-channel electrode cap (above) and a 32channel set of analog grass amplifiers (below)

The current and the most important application of a BCI

is the restoration of communication channel for patients
with locked-in-syndrome.
2. STRUCTURE OF BRAIN COMPUTER
ARCHITECTURE
The common structure of a Brain-Computer Interface is
the following:
i) Signal Acquisition: the EEG signals are obtained from
the brain through
invasive or non-invasive methods
(for example, electrodes).
ii) Signal Pre-Processing: once the signals are acquired,
it is necessary to clean them.
iii) Signal Classification: once the signals are cleaned,
they will be processed and classified to find out which
kind of mental task the subject is performing.
iv) Computer Interaction: once the signals are
classified,
they will be used by an appropriate algorithm for
the development of certain applications.

different methods. Neuropsychological signals can be

generated by the following methods:

implanted methods

evoked potentials

The following are the types of signals that the brain

responds to differently:
EEG OUTPUT WAVES
The analysis of continuous EEG signals or brain waves is
complex, due to the large amount of information received
from every electrode. As a science in itself, it has to be
completed with its own set of perplexing nomenclature.
Different waves, like so many Radio stations, are
categorized by the frequency of their emanations and, in
some cases, by the shape of their waveforms. Although
none of these waves is ever emitted alone, the
state of consciousness of the individuals may make one
frequency range more pronounced than others. Five types
are particularly important:
BETA WAVES: The rate of change lies between 13 and
30 Hz, and usually has a low voltage between 5-30V
BETA. The rate of change lies between 13 and 30 Hz,
and usually has a low voltage between 5-30 V Beta is the
brain wave usually associated with active thinking,
active attention, focus on the the outside world or solving
concrete problems. It can reach frequencies near 50 hertz
during intense mental activity.
ALPHA WAVES: The rate of change lies between 8 and
13 Hz, with 30-50 V amplitude. Alpha waves have been
thought to indicate both a relaxed awareness and also in
attention. They are strongest over the occipital (back of
the head) cortex and also over frontal cortex. Alpha is the
most prominent wave in the whole realm of brain activity
and possibly covers a greater range than has been
previously thought of. It is frequent to see a peak in the
beta range as high as 20 Hz, which has the characteristics
of an alpha state rather than a beta, and the setting in
which such a response appears also leads to the same
conclusion. Alpha alone seems to indicate an empty mind
rather than a relaxed one, a mindless state rather than a
passive one, and can be reduced or eliminated by
opening the eyes, by hearing unfamiliar sounds, or by
anxiety or mental concentration.
THETA WAVES: Theta waves lie within the range of 4 to
7 Hz, with amplitude usually greater than 20 V. Theta
arises from emotional stress, especially frustration or
disappointment. Theta has been also associated with
access to unconscious material, creative inspiration and

Figure2: Brain computer interface

3. BCI ARCHITECTURE
The processing unit is subdivided into a preprocessing
unit, responsible for artifact detection, and a feature
extraction and recognition unit that identifies the
command sent by the user to the BCI. The output
subsystem generates an action associated to this
command. This action constitutes a feedback to the user
who can modulate her mental activity so as to produce
those EEG patterns that make the BCI accomplish her
intents. Interfaces based on brain signals require on-line
detection of mental states from spontaneous activity;
different cortical areas are activated while thinking
different things (i.e. a mathematical computation, an
imagined arm movement, a music composition, etc). The
information of these "mental states" can be recorded with

deep meditation. The large dominant peak of the theta

waves is around 7 Hz.
DELTA WAVES: Delta waves lie within the range of 0.5
to 4 Hz, with variable amplitude. Delta waves are
primarily associated with deep sleep, and in the waking
state, were thought to indicate physical defects in the
brain. It is very easy to confuse artifact signals caused by
the large muscles of the neck and jaw with the genuine
delta responses. This is because the muscles are near the
surface of the skin and produce large signals whereas the
signal which is of interest originates deep in the brain and
is severely attenuated in passing through the skull.
Nevertheless, with an instant analysis EEG, it is easy to
see when the response is caused by excessive movement.
GAMMA WAVES: Gamma waves lie within the range of
35Hz and up. It is thought that this band reflects the
mechanism of consciousness - the binding together of
distinct modular brain functions into coherent percepts
capable of behaving in a re-entrant fashion (feeding back
on them over time to create a sense of stream-ofconsciousness).
MU WAVES: It is an 8-12 Hz spontaneous EEG wave
associated with motor activities and maximally recorded
over motor cortex. They diminish with movement or the
intention to move. Mu wave is in the same frequency
band as in the alpha wave, but this last one is recorded
over occipital cortex. Most attempts to control a computer
with continuous EEG measurements work by monitoring
alpha or mu waves, because people can learn to change
the amplitude of these two waves by making the
appropriate mental effort. A person might accomplish this
result, for instance, by recalling some strongly stimulating
image or by raising his or her level of attention.
4. APPLICATION OF BCI - BRAIN
CONTROLLED CAR
The video and thermo gram analyzer continuously
monitors activities outside the car. A Brain-Computer
Interface (BCI), sometimes called a direct neural interface
or a brain-machine interface, is a direct communication
pathway between a human or animal brain (or brain cell
culture) and an external device. In one-way BCIs,
computers either accept commands from the brain or send
signals to it (for example, to restore vision) but not both.
Two-way BCIs would allow brains and external devices to
exchange information in both directions but have yet to be
successfully implanted in animals or humans. In this
definition, the word brain means the brain or nervous
system of an organic life form rather than the mind.

Computer means any processing or computational device;

from simple circuits to silicon chips (including
hypothetical future technologies such as quantum
computing).Once the driver (disabled) nears the car. The
security system of the car is activated. Images as well as
thermo graphic results of the driver are previously fed
into the database o f
the
computer. If the video
Images match with the database entries
then
the
security system advances to the next stage. Here the
thermographic image verification is done with the
database. Once the driver passes this stage the door
slides to the sides and a ramp is lowered from its floor.
The ramp has flip actuators in its lower end. Once the
driver enters the ramp, the flip actuates the ramp to be
lifted horizontally. Then robotic arms assist the driver to
his seat. As soon as the driver is seated the EEG
(electroencephalogram) helmet, attached to the top of
the seat, is lowered and suitably placed on the drivers
head. A wide screen of the computer is placed at an
angle aesthetically suitable to the driver. Each program
can be controlled either directly by a mouse or by a
shortcut. For starting the car, the start button is clicked.
Accordingly the computer switches ON the circuit
from the battery to the A.C.Series Induction motors.

Figure 3: Wheel chair car

5. BIO CONTROL SYSTEM
The bio control system integrates signals from various
other s ys t e m s a n d c o m p a r e s t h e m w i t h originals
i n t h e database. It comprises of the following systems:
i) Brain-computer interface
ii) Automatic security system
iii) Automatic navigation system
Now let us discuss each system in detail.
5.1. Brain Computer Interface
Brain-computer interface is a subsystem that will increase

acceptance by offering customized, intelligent help and

training, especially for the non-expert user. Development
of such a flexible interface paradigm raises several
challenges in the areas of machine perception and
automatic explanation. The teams doing research in this
field have developed a single-position, brain-controlled
switch that responds to specific patterns detected in
spatiotemporal ElectroEncephaloGrams
(EEG)
measured from the human scalp. We refer to this initial
design as the Low- Frequency.

Figure 6: EEG Transmission

Figure 4: LFASD

Figure 7: Electroencephalogram
5.1.1. Test Results Comparing Driver Accuracy
With/Without BCI
i) Able-bodied subjects using imaginary movements
could attain equal or better control accuracies than
able-bodied subjects using real movements.
ii) Subjects demonstrated activation accuracies
in the range of 70-82% with false activations below 2%.
iii) Accuracies using actual finger movements
were observed in the range 36-83%
iv) The average classification accuracy of imaginary
movements was over 99%

.
Figure 5: Person operating a BCC

Figure 8: Brain-to- Machine Mechanism

The principle behind the whole mechanism is that
the impulse of the human brain can be tracked and
even decoded. The Low- Frequency Asynchronous
Switch Design traces the motor neurons in the brain.
When the driver attempts for a physical movement,
he/she sends an impulse to the motor neuron. These
motor neurons carry the signal to the physical
components such as hands or legs. Hence we decode
the message at the motor
neuron
to
obtain
maximum accuracy.
By observing the sensory
neurons we can monitor the eye movement of the driver.
Figure11: Electromechanical Control Unit

Figure 9: Eyeball Tracking

Figure 12: Sensors and Their Range

As the eye moves, the cursor on the screen also moves

and is also brightened when the driver concentrates on
one particular point in his environment. The sensors,
which are placed at the front and rear ends of the car,
send a live feedback of the environment to the
computer. The steering wheel is turned through a
specific angle by electromechanical actuators. The angle
of turn is calibrated from the distance moved by the
dot on the screen.

5.2. Automatic Security System

The Automatic Security System is a subsystem that will
monitor continually. When it drops less than 4 Hz then
the driver is in an unstable state. A message is given to
the driver for confirmation and waits for sometime, to
continue the drive. A confirmed reply activates the
program for automatic drive. If the driver is doesnt give
reply then the computer prompts the driver for the
destination before the drive.
5.3. Automatic Navigation System
The Automatic Navigation System is a subsystem that is
based on artificial intelligence it automatically monitors
every route the car travels and stores it in its map
database for future use. The map database is analyzed
and the shortest route to the destination is chosen.
With traffic monitoring system provided by xm
satellite r a d i o the computer drives the car
automatically.
Video and anti-collision sensors
mainly assist this drive by providing continuous live
feed of the environment up to 180 m, which is sufficient

Figure 10: Car controlled by EPOC EEG sensor

for the purpose.

7. BIOGRAPHY

Figure 13: EEG Analysis Window

6. CONCLUSION
I would like to conclude my presentation by saying that
BCI is a boon for disabled people. Even though this field
of science has grown vastly in last few years we are still
a few steps away from the scene where people drive
brain-operated wheelchairs on the streets. New
technologies need to be developed and people in the
neuroscience field need also to take into account other
brain imaging techniques, such as MEG and FMRI, to
develop the future BCI.As time passes BCI might be a
part of our every day lives. Who knows, in twenty years I
will not have to type this report with my fingers, but just
the conscious control of my thoughts would be enough.
When all the requirements are satisfied and if this car
becomes cost effective then we shall witness a
revolutionary change in the society where the
demarcation between the abler and the disabled vanishes.
Thus the integration of bioelectronics with automotive
systems is essential to develop efficient and futuristic
vehicles, which shall be witnessed soon helping the
disabled in every manner in the field of transportation.
REFERENCES
1. www.spectrum.ieee.org
2. www.mobilemag.com
3. http://www.howstuffworks.com

S Bhargav ram
(Email: bhargavseetha@gmail.com)
III Year
Kasireddy Narayan Reddy College of Engineering &
Research (KNRR)

Shashikar
(Email: Samboor.shashikar@gmail.com)
III Year
Kasireddy Narayan Reddy College of Engineering &
Research (KNRR)

Lakshmi durga
(Email: Luckyreddy.595@gmail.com)
III Year
Kasireddy Narayan Reddy College of Engineering &
Research (KNRR)