Driving Tips for Robonote (Emotiv EPOC Version) |
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This is a temporary document that will give you tips on how to drive your telepresence robot with Robonote and the Emotiv EPOC EEG headset. Enjoy the future of remote robot piloting using only head movements, eye-blinks, and your thoughts! This interface has the powerful additional benefit of making the telepresence robots accessible to the severely physically disabled.
PLEASE WATCH THE TRAINING VIDEO BELOW FIRST! Thank you.
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Table of Contents
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Operation Modes |
To change Operation Modes, blink your eyes at a steady pace until you hear the mode change sound and the command mode indicator changes. Below are the command modes.
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WEBCAM Mode
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In this mode you can see everything the robot sees and hear what it hears, you can also speak through its microphone. However, the robot will not move. Use this mode to talk to someone without having to worry about unwanted robot movements.
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COMMAND Mode
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Full operation mode. Same as above except the robot will now respond to your head movements and the Gas Pedal.
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Glossary (Definition of Term |
Gas Pedal
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The strong thought or feeling you trained the Emotiv EPOC to recognize with the Emotiv Basic Training Wizard (see below). You use the Gas Pedal whenever you want the robot to do an extended movement (see below).
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Direction Mini-Pad
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The small mini-pad of arrows that shows you what direction the robot will move if you “step on the Gas Pedal”.
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Cognitiv Action Meter
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The vertical meter that rises and falls with the intensity of the Gas Pedal. The better you concentrate, the higher it goes. It has a slider next to it that sets the activation threshold. When the meter rises above the threshold the robot moves. Set it higher if the robot is moving when you don’t want it to, lower it if you are having trouble reaching the threshold (although that may indicate that you need more training with the Emotiv Basic Training Wizard).
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Quick Turn
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This is a Left or Right turn that is executed by moving your head. The turn lasts as long as you move your head, no longer.
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Continuous Turn
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This is a Left or Right turn that executes as long as you keep the Cognitiv Action Meter above threshold. It will stop moving as soon as the meter falls below threshold OR you turn your head in any other direction.
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Emotiv Basic Training Wizard
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This is where you learn how to operate the robot and the Robonote software and most importantly, train the system to recognize the thought or feelings that will move the robot in an extended fashion. You can find this Wizard in Roboserver under the Help menu choice on the menu bar at the top of the main screen.
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Driving Tips |
NOTE: Remember, you should use the Roboserver application and not Roboclient to connect to your Rovio in LOCAL MODE. Robonote’s ability to drive a robot remotely over Skype and make movies for Evernote works with the Emotiv EPOC too, but for now, stick to LOCAL MODE please. NOTE 2: Important! Position your screen and the main Roboserver form on your screen so that when you look at the video input window your head is positioned straight forward and at a level angle or you will find that it is much harder to drive!
Driving with the Emotiv EPOC is simple. Moving your head moves the robot but only for short movements. Here are the head movements commands:
Head Movements |
Lift your head up
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Moves the camera up to the middle position (not all the way up)
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Tilt your head down
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Puts the camera all the way back down
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Turn your head left
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Makes the robot do a quick velocity sensitive short turn to the left. Movement stops when your head stops.
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Turn your head right
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Makes the robot do a quick velocity sensitive short turn to the right. Movement stops when your head stops.
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Gas Pedal Movements |
NOTE: This is where the Direction Mini-Pad is your guide! Think of the Gas Pedal as the “do it more” pedal (extended movements). Whatever direction is flashing and highlighted in red on the Direction Mini-Pad is what direction the Gas Pedal will move the robot.
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Up arrow is red
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The Gas Pedal will push the camera to the up-most position.
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Down arrow is red
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This does nothing since the camera will already be down at this point.
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Left arrow is red
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The Gas Pedal will execute a continuous turn to the left until you “let off the gas” OR you turn your head to the right quickly. The latter is good for executing a quick stop.
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Right arrow is red
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The Gas Pedal will execute a continuous turn to the right until you “let off the gas” OR you turn your head to the left quickly. The latter is good for executing a quick stop.
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The center button is red and says FWD.
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The Gas Pedal will move the robot forward until you “let off the gas” OR you tilt your head UP quickly. The latter is good for executing a quick stop.
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The center button is red and says BWD.
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The Gas Pedal will move backward until you “let off the gas” OR you tilt your head UP quickly. The latter is good for executing a quick stop.
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Moving Backwards (when you get stuck!) |
Moving backwards takes a few steps but it’s really easy. To move backwards:
- Blink your eyes until you are in WEBCAM mode.
- Shake your head NO until you hear the headshake-NO sound and the center button on the Direction Mini-Pad lights up red and says BWD.
- Blink your eyes until you are in COMMAND mode.
- Use the Gas Pedal to move the robot backwards.
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Download Link |
Use the link below to download Robonote with Emotiv EPOC support. Robonote runs on any Windows system with at Windows XP or Windows 7, and in some cases on a Mac running a virtual machine like Fusion, Crossover or Parallels:
Download Robonote with Emotiv EPOC support
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