This article talks about building a DIY biofeedback machine using an Arduino board. Biofeedback is mainly a process that utilizes certain instruments so as to gain awareness of the physiological functions and manipulate them willingly. It can aid in controlling brainwaves, muscle tone, heart rate, pain perception as well as skin conductance. Another application involves improving health and performance that differ as per the thoughts, emotions and behavior.
Figure 1: Arduino Biofeedback
To get started with the project, certain materials need to be gathered namely Arduino UNO, breadboard, 16X2 LCD, two plates of copper or any other conductive metal, connection cables and temperature sensor TMP36. When all the tools and components are in the place, the procedures is kick started by building the electronic circuit on the breadboard. After that the LCD is mounted carefully and the pins are linked carefully. The next step is to mount the sensor. It has 3 pins out of which 2 are connected to the breadboard and one is linked to the Arduino.
When all the components are mounted, then a GSR sensor is created. This involves two copper pieces and a 220kOhm resistor. Some copper coins can also be substituted for the copper pieces. When all this gets over, it’s important to make sure that the electronic circuit is correctly configured. Moreover, the VCC and GND shouldn’t be reversed otherwise all the electronic components could catch fire. The process comes to an end with the uploading of sketch on the Arduino board.
Finally coming to the implementation stage, the LCD screen displays the biofeedback welcome screen. As you place the index finger and the ring finger on the copper pieces, it’s essential to ensure that the fingers lie between the temperature sensor TMP36. The device will start measuring the vital signs like temperature, heart rate and skin conductance. The screen clearly reveals current GSR temperature value, maximum value GSR skin conductance along with the elapsed time.
Figure 1: Screen displays GSR temperature value
Once the serial port of the computer is opened, the values can be read on the screen. The values will be updated in less than a few seconds and the report of entire measurement sessions can be prepared similar to that shown in the picture above.
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