openbci / ultracortex

Files related to the ultracortex, the OpenBCI 3D-printable EEG headset currently under development

Ultracortex

Ultracortex Mark Numbers (aka versions)

• Mark 1 - designed, printed, assembled, & modeled (April 2015)
• Mark 2 - designed, printed, assembled, & tested (May-June 2015)
• Mark 3 - designed, printed, assembled, & tested (July-September 2015)
• Mark III "Nova" & "Supernova" - designed, printed, assembled, & tested (April 2016)
• Mark III "Nova" & "Supernova" (REVISED) - designed, printed, assembled, & tested (June 2016)
• [CURRENT] Mark IV - designed, printed, assembled, & tested (January 2017)

The Ultracortex is an open-source, 3D-printable headset intended to work with the OpenBCI system. It is capable of recording research-grade brain activity (EEG), muscle activity (EMG), and heart activity (ECG). The Ultracortex is under constant iteration. If you print/assemble your own Ultracortex, we would love to hear your feedback. Send us an email at [email protected] or Tweet at us (@Ultracortex & @OpenBCI)!

Designers & Engineers:

• Aaron Trocola (aka Threeform)
• Conor Russomanno
• Joel Murphy (aka SafeForRobots)
• Aaron Lehr

ultracortex's Issues

High Density EEG?

This might be more of a suggestion for a future project than an improvement on the present iteration of Ultracortex, but I thought I'd throw it out there anyways.

A small, but growing, number of researchers are scanning with 32, 64, 128 and 256 electrode systems in order to employ a technique called source localization. Source localization, as its name implies, allows you to pinpoint where EEG signals are coming from in a way that gives spatial resolution reminiscent of fMRI (though not comparable; fMRI voxel sizes can be as low as 1 mm isotropic, while EEG voxel sizes tend to be around 5 mm isotropic). This technique, though not without controversy (what scientific methodology isn't?) is something I would be interested in seeing become more prevalent, as it seems to me that it would be much more cost effective to gather large datasets with EEG than with fMRI.

There are some high density nets on the market today, and while they're cheaper than fMRI, they can still be rather pricey (upwards of a thousand dollars per net). In a time of dwindling scientific budgets, these costs can be prohibitive to some labs that otherwise might have wanted to try using this technique. In light of this, I think that it would be neat if there were an open source alternative that labs could try out (even if it weren't necessarily as fully-featured as the nets that are out right now).

Here are a couple links for you to check out concerning source localization if your interested:
http://cdasr.mclean.harvard.edu/content/publications/LATN/BookChapters/Pizzagalli_HandbookPhysiology07.pdf
http://neuroimage.usc.edu/brainstorm/Tutorials#Background_readings

Updated Mark IV stl

Can you post the final mark IV stl with assembly instructions the current ones are not correct.

STL files are not meant to be printed at home

It would be great if the files were designed to be printed in to so not PRO 3d printing machines.

As well the orientation print way too much support.

Please help!

Please update the repo with instructions for printing the mark IV

Current instructions indicate that the model must be scaled before printing. I have tried printing per the instructions however the hardware does not fit.

Please update repo with properly scaled stl files that don't require any modification and are ready to print. Please also add instructions with pictures detailing the assembly process for the mark IV.

QUADSTAR won't fit over OCTARING

In the README.md is written "Take your QUADSTAR and stretch it so that it fits over the OCTARING" but we couldn't do it.
We tried by printing QUADSTAR bigger of 4% and of 5% but with this enlargment the OCTARING won't fit.
Can anyone explain how they managed to do this tricky part? Thank you

possible corrosion problem observed when using recommended parts

Using the parts listed for https://github.com/OpenBCI/Ultracortex/tree/master/Mark_III_Nova_REVISED, I observed the following.

There seems to be some sort of reaction or corrosion when putting together the electrodes and the machine screws.

The photos (attached below) show an electrode as it comes out of the plastic shipping bag beside electrodes that have been assembled into their pods.

The assembled pieces were put together 24 hours ago. One can observe what appears to be corrosion between the head of the screw and the electrode.

They were not exposed to water. They were not screwed together very tightly. Electrical conductivity has not yet been affected, but if it continues, enough corrosion could prevent signals from conducting through the wire or being picked up at all.

These are parts ordered directly off the links in the list on github. There were no substitutions. I did not use different parts.

So... what's going on here? I shouldn't be seeing any corrosion between these parts, right?

This is being built for a hackfest that will be held next week (10-11 September 2016)
https://sites.google.com/site/ieeebcihackathon/

Make the frame more 3D printer friendly

I showed this to our printer guy and he suggested:

Whoa! Too large, too much support required, I would think that with our printer there would be a 0% chance of success.

I'm wondering if there is a way to make this project more friendly a wider variety of 3D printers.

Perhaps break the frame into smaller components would help?

Gold Cup Electrodes - not long enough for forehead electrodes

Even when cutting off the no-touch connectors at their base, which gives the maximum length of the Gold Cup Electrodes wires, the length of the wire is simply not long enough to reach the forehead electrodes.

I have a wire with the right connectors to make an extension for my build, but if someone tried to build this and didn't have that, it would be annoying.

Has someone actually used these wires in constructing a headset? Have a photo? Maybe the Gold Cup Electrodes wires are shorter now than when they were specified? This is with a medium sized headset, so the problem would probably be worse for a large.

Mark_III_Nova Frame is large

Hi all,
Thanks for updating the Mark III_Nova STL file. The current back and front frames are larger than my Printer printable size which is (7''x7''x7''). Is there any way which you can further break up the head frame (i.e., to 4 pieces)?
On the other hands, what should I do with my printer?

Comfort insert STL?

Cannot seem to find comfort insert in the collection of STL files for the M4.

Where are the Mark 4 files?

The Mark 4 Model is already existing, judging from the pictures on http://shop.openbci.com/products/ultracortex-mark-iv

Why isn't it released yet?

MARK IV - Chip Mount

Do you already have a model created for the MIV Chip Holder? How are you mounting them to the frame? Zip Ties?

.prt file request -- to edit in Solidworks

Hi,
We're using openBCI for a senior thesis project to make audiovisual feedback from eeg, ekg, and mmg. We're lovin openBCI, but we're starting to think about headset design. We want to make a few edits to the ultracortex, but the .stl files are not editable in solidworks. Can you post the original CAD files (.prt)?

Much appreciation,
Mohit

MARK IV - Medium and Large STL

Can you post the stl for the medium and larger versions of the MARK IV?

Consider providing CAD files (in other words FreeCAD)

Just wanted to drop a note here that recently the FreeCAD[1] community[2] has been helping to optimize another open source medical device, otoscope[3] (created by GliaX). They didn't have any CAD files available on their repository[4]. Anyway, the idea is if that if this project needs any help or has questions please feel free to open a thread on the FreeCAD Open Discussion subforum[5].
Cheers and thanks for all your open source efforts!

ref:
[1] https://freecadweb.org
[2] https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=38643
[3] https://medium.com/@trklou/a-clinical-grade-libre-open-source-otoscope-a61a0a6295e6
[4] GliaX/Otoscope#4
[5] https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewforum.php?f=8

Head size

I noticed the STLs come in 3 different sizes (small, medium, and large). What head sizes are they meant for?

Nova README, SRB1 -> SRB2

Conor, Joel and team, great tutorial and design evolutions!

Minor typo, isn't the SRB pin closest to the board SRB2 and not SRB1 as stated in the README? It is clear from the photos that the pins closest to the board are used. But some other documentation, for example various places on the forum, shows reference on SRB2.

Cheers, William

Battery charging?

In the instructions about including the rechargeable battery, how is the charger included and connected?

"Embed OpenBCI into the Ultracortex

Connect your ~500 mAh lithium ion rechargeable batter to the back of your 32bit OpenBCI Board. Then fold the battery and its wires neatly behind the board before inserting the board into the BOARD_MOUNT. You can then use one of your #4 Drive Screws to secure the OpenBCI Board to the BOARD_MOUNT. Typically you don't need to use any #4 Drive Screws because the BOARD_COVER locks the OpenBCI Board in place, but in this case it's a good idea because you'll want to see where you're connecting your wires."

Suggestions for assembly guide

Here are some suggestions for things that could be improved or made clearer in the assembly guide. Some points are sort of nit-picky, but I'll include them just in case!

1. All 3 links for the "Electrode Starter Kit" lead to a 404.
2. Could add an index on the picture in "Recommended Assembly Tools" (numbers on the picture that correspond to the list above it), in case someone isn't familiar with the tools.
3. In "Assembly Instructions -> Remove Residual Support Material & Print Flaws", could include the fact that only the sand paper is included in the package (to avoid confusion if users are looking for the other tools in the package).
4. In "Assembly Instructions -> Remove Residual Support Material & Print Flaws", could clarify how to tell what is printer residue and what is part of the Ultracortex (maybe have a clear picture of a clean cortex in this section?). Additionally, how clean does the frame need to be (super smooth, or just so that no pieces are sticking out)?
5. In "Assembly Instructions -> Glue the FRAME together", could suggest that the front and back of the Ultracortex frame should be glued together while both pieces are sitting on a table, for stability/precision.
6. In "Assembly Instructions -> Mount the OpenBCI BOARD_HOLDER", clarify that only four screws need to be used to attach the mount onto the Ultracortex (I initially thought that all of the holes needed to be screwed in, until I ran out of screws in my package).
7. In "Assembly Instruction -> Mount the OpenBCI BOARD_HOLDER", make sure that users know the orientation of the mount is important, and included a clearer picture showing the orientation.
8. Typo - "cylindar" -> "cylinder" (control-F to find it!)
9. Is there a higher-res picture of the Dry and Non-Spikey electrodes from Florida Research Instruments? Not a huge deal, but seems out of place next to all of the other pictures in the guide.

wrong electrodes

This doesn't look anywhere near like the electrodes that came with the OpenBCI V3 and there is no part list telling users to get any other ones.
Something doesn't match up here.

BOARD_HOLDER and BOARD_COVER stl download link for "Nova" headset CANNOT BE FOUND

Hi all,
I encountered an issue on opening stl download link for board holder and cover of 'Nova' headset.

Can anyone post it again ?

Thank you very much.

Yuliang

Electrodes on the pictures

Hey,

I would like to know if there is a tutorial to make the electrodes we can see on the Ultracortex IV's pictures ?

Thanks!

Dimensions and or Editable CAD Files

Hello,
I am working on printing the Ultracortex right now but, would like to make some changes to the electrode holder. I read a previous ticket that you guys were looking into providing IGS files for some of the parts. If this is not the case, would it be in realm of possibility to get a drawing or dimension sheet of some of the parts.

Thank you very much,

Sam

Modifications to M3

• loops for chin strap in frame
• bigger screw holes for OpenBCI board mounting (4 holes on body need to be optimized for 1/4” #4 screw)
• tighter octagrip on octabolt (to enable octabolt placement above and below body (aka board mount)
• outer diameter of the spring casing seems slightly bigger than outer diameter of electrode mount
• clip mechanism to make body (aka board mount) detachable.
• possibly cut out top of body (aka board mount) to allow for nut to fit in… (we may not need to do this though)

Can anyone recommend a print-on demand service?

With a reasonable cost. 3D systems quoted ~4K.

Thanks!