A P300 Based Brain-Computer Interface LabVIEW Instrument for Controlling an Experimental Prototype of Juices Vending Machine Using the Unicorn EEG Headset

The brain-computer interface (BCI) research field provides advanced biomedical technology based unique assistive or rehabilitative solutions aimed at helping people with neuromotor disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new brain-computer interface for controlling both a virtual simulation and a real experimental system of a vending machine or an automated machine for delivering various juices by transmitting commands based on detecting the P300 evoked biopotentials detected from the GTEC Unicorn headset embedding 8 EEG sensors. Therefore, after using the GTEC Unicorn Recorder official software to check the quality of the acquired raw EEG signals, the BCI commands are generated by triggering the P300 evoked biopotentials in the GTEC Unicorn Speller official board. The resulted EEG based P300 packets are sent in the LabVIEW instrument by the UDP communication protocol. The original LabVIEW application comprises two State-Machine programming sequences both for pictures-based simulation of delivering juices and the real experimentation of a physical Vending Machine controlled by the Arduino Mega 2560 development board. Also, the proposed LabVIEW instrument includes a programming code sequence facilitating the Bluetooth communication between the computer and the Arduino to enable the transmission of commands for controlling the DC pump air motors. The presented experimental prototype should be employed as a training or educational tool both for people with neuromotor disabilities and novice researchers into the brain-computer interface scientific field.