The Brainiac Beaver

Inspiration

We were inspired by the brainwave sensing technology developed by Muse, and wanted to integrate it into a system that would allow a user to control driving using only their head.

What it does

The Muse headband detects brainwaves, which correlate to forward motion in the bot. Tilting the head to either side controls turning to the left or right. As added features, the bot includes LED eyes that blink when the user blinks and different sound effects that can be activated via sensors in the nose and tail of the beaver.

How I built it

The body of the beaver was built with styrofoam, air-dry clay, and wool, and was then mounted on a base created by one of my teammates using 3D-printing and laser cutting.

Challenges I ran into

One of the challenges I faced was figuring out how to integrate the electronics into the bot in a way that would maintain the realistic appearance of the beaver.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I am proud of creating a product that is well-integrated and visually appealing.

What I learned

I learned more about using Arduino and Raspberry Pi to create an integrated system.

What's next for The Brainiac Beaver

We envision this type of technology being used in assistive technology in the future, allowing disabled individuals to be able to control vehicles without needing to use their limbs.

Built With

• 3dprinting
• arduino
• muse
• python
• raspberry-pi
• solidworks