Intermediate
30 min

Create simple brain activity monitor with INA114 and ATmega328

Your brain's story, captured in every wave

EEG Click with Arduino UNO Rev3

Published Feb 14, 2024

Click board™

EEG Click

Dev Board

Arduino UNO Rev3

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

ATmega328

Unlock the secrets of brainwaves with our cutting-edge EEG technology

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

EEG Click is based on the INA114, a precision instrumentation amplifier (IA) by Burr Brown®, a division of Texas Instruments specialized in high-performance analog and mixed-signal ICs. This IC offers low noise, LASER-trimmed offset voltage, and a good common-mode rejection ratio. It uses a single resistor to set up its gain, which can easily be set up to 10,000. On this Click board™, the INA114 IA has its gain set to about 12 times. Further, amplification and signal filtering is done by the MCP609, a four-channel op-amp from Microchip, so that the final gain factor is about 7800 times. Such high amplification is necessary to amplify faint voltages generated during brain activity. To fine-tune the amplification, a multi-turn precision potentiometer allows for setting the gain of the intermediate amplification stage between

10 and 100 times. Since the "brain waves " can be both positive and negative, EEG click uses a virtual GND at the potential of 2.048V. This also helps to reduce the noise from the common GND, improving the quality of the readings. The amplified brain activity signal is available at the AN pin of the mikroBUS™, allowing sampling by the host MCU. EEG measurements should be ideally conducted in an electrically isolated room since any electromagnetic interference (EMI) could corrupt the measurement data. However, the INA114 offers some EMI protection, as it features an outstanding common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR), allowing it to cancel out most of the induced interferences successfully. This Click board™ uses a 3-electrode setup, which can be connected over a 3.5mm Jack connector on the

Click board™. Although the best results can be achieved using silver-chlorine-plated electrodes, any electrode can be used. EEG uses the DRL electrode placement scheme: two electrodes are placed behind the ears, while the third is placed on the forehead. The DRL electrode (on the forehead) helps eliminate the common voltage, while two other electrodes are connected to the differential inputs of the INA114 IA. The complete signal path is very well protected against voltage spikes and transients that might appear as a result of the electrostatic discharge (ESD) in contact with the human body, so there is a set of ESD suppressing diodes and TVS diodes, which prevent sensitive IA and operational amplifiers on its output to become damaged by ESD events.

EEG Click hardware overview image

Features overview

Development board

Arduino UNO is a versatile microcontroller board built around the ATmega328P chip. It offers extensive connectivity options for various projects, featuring 14 digital input/output pins, six of which are PWM-capable, along with six analog inputs. Its core components include a 16MHz ceramic resonator, a USB connection, a power jack, an

ICSP header, and a reset button, providing everything necessary to power and program the board. The Uno is ready to go, whether connected to a computer via USB or powered by an AC-to-DC adapter or battery. As the first USB Arduino board, it serves as the benchmark for the Arduino platform, with "Uno" symbolizing its status as the

first in a series. This name choice, meaning "one" in Italian, commemorates the launch of Arduino Software (IDE) 1.0. Initially introduced alongside version 1.0 of the Arduino Software (IDE), the Uno has since become the foundational model for subsequent Arduino releases, embodying the platform's evolution.

Arduino UNO Rev3 double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Architecture

AVR

MCU Memory (KB)

32

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

32

RAM (Bytes)

2048

You complete me!

Accessories

Click Shield for Arduino UNO has two proprietary mikroBUS™ sockets, allowing all the Click board™ devices to be interfaced with the Arduino UNO board without effort. The Arduino Uno, a microcontroller board based on the ATmega328P, provides an affordable and flexible way for users to try out new concepts and build prototypes with the ATmega328P microcontroller from various combinations of performance, power consumption, and features. The Arduino Uno has 14 digital input/output pins (of which six can be used as PWM outputs), six analog inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic resonator (CSTCE16M0V53-R0), a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and reset button. Most of the ATmega328P microcontroller pins are brought to the IO pins on the left and right edge of the board, which are then connected to two existing mikroBUS™ sockets. This Click Shield also has several switches that perform functions such as selecting the logic levels of analog signals on mikroBUS™ sockets and selecting logic voltage levels of the mikroBUS™ sockets themselves. Besides, the user is offered the possibility of using any Click board™ with the help of existing bidirectional level-shifting voltage translators, regardless of whether the Click board™ operates at a 3.3V or 5V logic voltage level. Once you connect the Arduino UNO board with our Click Shield for Arduino UNO, you can access hundreds of Click boards™, working with 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels.

Click Shield for Arduino UNO accessories 1 image

3-wire ECG/EMG cable comes with a convenient 3.5mm phone jack, and it is designed for electrocardiogram recording. This 1m cable is a practical companion for medical professionals and enthusiasts. To complement this cable, you can also use single-use adhesive ECG/EMG electrodes measuring 48x34mm, each equipped with an ECG/EMG cable stud adapter. These electrodes ensure a seamless experience when paired with our ECG/EMG cable and guarantee reliable ECG/EMG signal transmission for comprehensive cardiac monitoring. Trust in the accuracy and convenience of this setup to effortlessly record electrocardiograms and electromyograms with confidence.

EEG Click accessories image

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

Analog Output
PC0
AN
NC
NC
RST
NC
NC
CS
NC
NC
SCK
NC
NC
MISO
NC
NC
MOSI
NC
NC
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
NC
NC
PWM
NC
NC
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
NC
NC
SCL
NC
NC
SDA
Power Supply
5V
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Schematic

EEG Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Click Shield for Arduino UNO front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Arduino UNO Rev3 as your development board.

Click Shield for Arduino UNO front image hardware assembly
Arduino UNO Rev3 front image hardware assembly
Charger 27 Click front image hardware assembly
Prog-cut hardware assembly
Charger 27 Click complete accessories setup image hardware assembly
Arduino UNO Rev3 Access MB 1 - upright/background hardware assembly
Necto image step 2 hardware assembly
Necto image step 3 hardware assembly
Necto image step 4 hardware assembly
Necto image step 5 hardware assembly
Necto image step 6 hardware assembly
Arduino UNO MCU Step hardware assembly
Necto No Display image step 8 hardware assembly
Necto image step 9 hardware assembly
Necto image step 10 hardware assembly
Debug Image Necto Step hardware assembly

Track your results in real time

Application Output via Debug Mode

1. Once the code example is loaded, pressing the "DEBUG" button initiates the build process, programs it on the created setup, and enters Debug mode.

2. After the programming is completed, a header with buttons for various actions within the IDE becomes visible. Clicking the green "PLAY" button starts reading the results achieved with the Click board™. The achieved results are displayed in the Application Output tab.

DEBUG_Application_Output

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for EEG Click driver.

Key functions:

  • eeg_read_an_pin_value - This function reads results of AD conversion of the AN pin

  • eeg_read_an_pin_voltage - This function reads results of AD conversion of the AN pin and converts them to proportional voltage level

Open Source

Code example

This example can be found in NECTO Studio. Feel free to download the code, or you can copy the code below.

/*!
 * @file main.c
 * @brief EEG Click Example.
 *
 * # Description
 * This example demonstrates the use of EEG Click board.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initializes Click board.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * Reads ADC value and sends results on serial plotter every 5 ms.
 *
 * @author Jelena Milosavljevic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "eeg.h"

static eeg_t eeg;   /**< EEG Click driver object. */
static log_t logger;    /**< Logger object. */
uint32_t time = 0;

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    eeg_cfg_t eeg_cfg;  /**< Click config object. */

    /** 
     * Logger initialization.
     * Default baud rate: 115200
     * Default log level: LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG
     * @note If USB_UART_RX and USB_UART_TX 
     * are defined as HAL_PIN_NC, you will 
     * need to define them manually for log to work. 
     * See @b LOG_MAP_USB_UART macro definition for detailed explanation.
     */
    LOG_MAP_USB_UART( log_cfg );
    log_init( &logger, &log_cfg );
    log_info( &logger, " Application Init " );
    log_printf( &logger, " ----------------------------------------------\r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "                ***EEG click***               \r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "----------------------------------------------\r\n" );
    Delay_ms( 2000 );
    
    // Click initialization.
    eeg_cfg_setup( &eeg_cfg );
    EEG_MAP_MIKROBUS( eeg_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    if ( ADC_ERROR == eeg_init( &eeg, &eeg_cfg ) ){
        log_error( &logger, " Application Init Error. " );
        log_info( &logger, " Please, run program again... " );

        for ( ; ; );
    }
    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
}

void application_task ( void ) 
{
    uint16_t eeg_an_value = 0;
        
    if ( eeg_read_an_pin_value( &eeg, &eeg_an_value ) != ADC_ERROR ) {
        log_printf( &logger, " %u,%lu\r\n", eeg_an_value, time );
        Delay_ms( 5 );
        time += 5;
    }
}

void main ( void ) 
{
    application_init( );

    for ( ; ; ) {
        application_task( );
    }
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END

Additional Support

Resources

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