Comparison Between Two Brain Computer Interface Systems Aiming to Control a Mobile Robot

A Brain Computer Interface (BCI) is a type of communication device between the brain and a computer system without the need of normal muscle activation pathways. This technology has offered patients with locked-in syndrome a way to communicate with the outside world. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a comparison between two state of the art pieces of BCI equipment. One employs the active dry electrodes on a non-portable BCI system, and the second is the g.Nautilus wearable BCI device with active wet electrodes. The applications in question deal with the control of a mobile robotic platform using the Steady State Visually Evoked Potential and the Motor Imagery methods. The comparison takes into account delays in controlling the external device, the performances to collect the proper EEG signals, their treatment and extraction of the required info for the proposed control, time to prepare the required set-up etc.