Puzzlebox Brainstorms

Seeking Teachers, Parents, and Mentors for Case Studies

Puzzlebox in the classroom

The Puzzlebox Brainstorms project is actively seeking teachers, parents, and mentors to participate in the first round of case studies using the software for educational purposes in real world environments. One private primary education school in the US is already set to begin teaching Physics principles about wave theory to a classroom of 10 year olds this September, then use the software as part of student experiments. Interest has also been received from an overseas scout troop with LEGO Mindstorms experience, as well as numerous parents helping to foster scientific interest in EEG and robotics technology for science fairs and similar activities.

Our project seeks to aid such interested parties in whatever way we can to make the most of the educational experience as well as customize the software to better meet the goals of such endeavours. If you or someone you know would be interested to participate please do not hesitate to contact us.

Puzzlebox Synapse version 0.3.0 released

Puzzlebox has released a new software application "Puzzlebox Synapse" which connects to commercially available consumer EEG headsets, displays live data back to the user, and relays the data collected over a network or the internet.

This release focuses on parsing live EEG data from the NeuroSky MindSet in realtime over Bluetooth and transmitting the data in the standard ThinkGear Connect JSON format. This release allows execution of software designed for NeuroSky's MindSet on any supported Operating System, including Linux.

Features include:

- Complete GUI interface written using the Qt Framework
- A NeuroSky MindSet emulator is built into the software to aid in software development
- A debug console displays the raw signal values back to the user
- A RPM package for installation under Linux distributions such as Fedora is included
- A self-installing Windows .exe package is included for current versions of Windows including XP, Vista, and Windows 7
- Implements the complete current ThinkGear Socket Protocol specification [2010-06-28 R2.1]

Puzzlebox ThinkGear Emulator version 0.2.4 released

Puzzlebox has released an updated version of the "ThinkGear Emulator" which adds support for actually parsing live EEG data from the NeuroSky's MindSet in realtime over Bluetooth. This new feature allows execution of NeuroSky's MindSet software in a 100% Linux environment (including Puzzlebox Brainstorms).

The next version will include a complete GUI interface with live display updates for signal contact quality, EEG Brain Waves, and eSense detections and will be released under a new name as this software has grown beyond being only an emulator.

Features include:

- Now reads and parses ThinkGear packets directly from NeuroSky's MindSet EEG headset over Bluetooth
- Offers support for ThinkGear development under Linux
- Implements the complete current ThinkGear Socket Protocol specification [2010-06-28 R2.1]
- Complete rewrite using the Qt Framework
- Fixed Adobe SWF (Flash/Flex) Socket Policy File Request handling
- eSense multipliers added to configuration file to fine-tune signals during emulation
- Variable blink rate support added to emulation

TED Talk: Tan Le demonstrates the Emotiv EPOC

Several readers have submitted this link to a TED Talk presented earlier this month.

In it, Tan Le from Emotiv demonstrates the Emotiv EPOC EEG headset.

Puzzlebox Brainstorms supports using this headset.

New version 0.2.0 released

A major new release of Puzzlebox Brainstorms has been made available.

Puzzlebox Brainstorms - NeuroSky MindSet Demo (with annotations)

This release features:

- Ready for classroom use
- Complete rewrite using Qt Framework
- NeuroSky MindSet EEG hardware support
- Speed control tied to detected Concentration levels, with an additional boost granted for simultaneous high Relaxation levels
- Variable control duration allows robot to continue driving for as long as a detection occurs or as long as a button is held down in the user interface
- Visual style automatically adjusts and changes to match system theme
- Power voltage of LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot reported back to user interface in real-time
- Communications port for LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot can be modified at will by user without editing configuration text files

Documentation has been updated to reflect these changes.

Puzzlebox ThinkGear Emulator version 0.1.4 released

Puzzlebox Brainstorms is currently integrating support for NeuroSky's MindSet EEG headset.

In the course of producing code which could communicate with NeuroSky's "ThinkGear Connector" developer tools it became desirable to produce a simple test suite which could emulate the complete ThinkGear socket protocol, both from a client and server perspective. This software permits development, testing, and debugging of MindSet applications on alternative platforms such as Linux and without the need for a physical headset.

Puzzlebox has packaged and made available these components as a distinct "Puzzlebox ThinkGear Emulator" download for the use of other developers interested in working with this particular hardware.

Features include:

- Implements the complete current ThinkGear Socket Protocol specification [2010-05-28 R2.1]
- Implements ThinkGear authorization mechanisms on both server and client side
- Support for Adobe SWF (Flash/Flex) Socket Policy File Request handling
- Server automatically simulates sinusoidal fluxuations for each "eegPower" frequency band as well as "attention" and "concentration" values for "eSense" detections
- Server automatically simulates a blink effect at configurable intervals
- Successfully tested with "Don't Fear the Dark" and "HelloEEG" demo applications
- Python Twisted framework based communications using the SimpleJSON library for best performance
- Includes automated setup.exe installation package (complete with menu entries and uninstaller)
- Released as Open Source under the GPLv2

New version 0.1.2 released

A new release of Puzzlebox Brainstorms has been made available.

This release includes:

- Fully automated Windows installer including all dependencies to run the software
- Complete Desktop and Programs menu shortcuts for launching software under Windows
- One-click "local" client version with server component embedded and loaded automatically
- Text based configuration file for easy adjustment of default settings and device locations
- Fully automated uninstallation option for easy and clean software removal

Documentation has been updated to reflect these changes.

New version 0.1.1 released

A new release of Puzzlebox Brainstorms has been made available.

Support has been added to run the software entirely from a Windows PC, without the requirement of a dedicated mobile device to relay control commands to the LEGO Mindstorms robot over Bluetooth.

Documentation has also been updated to reflect this change

4th International BCI Conference

We would like to take a moment to extend thanks to everyone at the Wadsworth Center responsible for assembling the 4th International BCI Conference which ran at the Asilomar Conference Center in Monterey, CA this past week, as well as all of the terrific presenters and attendees. Much was learned from both structured and informal discussions, and we look forward to implementing new paradigms and techniques now better understood to the project.

Development Roadmap

An extended research phase into the next series of features to be implemented by the Puzzlebox Brainstorms software has been completed and are now outlined on our development tracker.

The feature list can be accessed here.

Events Listing

Puzzlebox Brainstoms will be sending representatives and/or presenting at a series of events and locations in the coming months.

You can check to see where we'll be next here.

Demonstration Video Now Online

Puzzlebox Brainstorms Introduction Video (with annotations)

Announcing: Puzzlebox Brainstorms

Welcome to the website for Puzzlebox Brainstorms, an Open Source software suite supporting school projects which help introduce students to robotics and brain-computer interfaces.

The project's intention is to work in coordination with teachers, student groups, researchers, designers, and developers who are interested in collaborating in an open community environment. It is based on members of each type contributing their own skills and interests in "Stone Soup" fashion.

The goal of this project is to produce a complete set of software tools and applications, as well as teacher resources such as lesson plans, which guide technology educators through classroom-ready projects. It is envisioned students can be broken up into groups and allowed to experiment with designing and building their own robotic vehicles using LEGO Mindstorms, first racing them directly from classroom computers, and later through mind control via EEG headset.

Puzzlebox is sponsoring the effort by contributing this forum, technical environment, and the initial software which already supports driving a simple robot through brain control, as measured by an EEG device, such as the Emotiv EPOC. Currently the receiving software runs on a Nokia n900 mobile Linux handset, permitting tele-operation over the internet via mobile data or a local wireless network. A live video stream from the "robot's perspective" can be transmitted back to the user from the built-in camera.

All software in this project is released free of charge as Open Source, under the GNU Public License (GPLv2).

Questions, comments, and interested parties should contact us to see how they can become involved.