BIONIX: A Wireless, Low-Cost Prosthetic Arm with Dual-Signal EEG and EMG Control

TL;DR

This paper introduces a low-cost, dual-signal EEG and EMG controlled prosthetic arm that offers intuitive, multi-degree-of-freedom movement, making advanced prosthetics more accessible in low-resource settings.

Contribution

It presents a novel, affordable neuro-muscular control system integrating EEG and EMG signals for real-time prosthetic control, utilizing low-cost components and simple classification models.

Findings

Achieved real-time control of a prosthetic arm with low-cost hardware.

Demonstrated effective detection of blink events and muscle activity for movement control.

Constructed a functional prototype costing approximately $240.

Abstract

Affordable upper-limb prostheses often lack intuitive control systems, limiting functionality and accessibility for amputees in low-resource settings. This project presents a low-cost, dual-mode neuro-muscular control system integrating electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) to enable real-time, multi-degree-of-freedom control of a prosthetic arm. EEG signals are acquired using the NeuroSky MindWave Mobile 2 and transmitted via ThinkGear Bluetooth packets to an ESP32 microcontroller running a lightweight classification model. The model was trained on 1500 seconds of recorded EEG data using a 6-frame sliding window with low-pass filtering, excluding poor-signal samples and using a 70/20/10 training--validation--test split. The classifier detects strong blink events, which toggle the hand between open and closed states. EMG signals are acquired using a MyoWare 2.0 sensor and SparkFun wireless shield and transmitted to a second ESP32, which performs threshold-based detection. Three activation bands (rest: 0--T1; extension: T1--T2; contraction: greater than T2) enable intuitive elbow control, with movement triggered only after eight consecutive frames in a movement class to improve stability. The EEG-controlled ESP32 actuates four finger servos, while the EMG-controlled ESP32 drives two elbow servos. A functional prototype was constructed using low-cost materials (total cost approximately 240 dollars), with most expense attributed to the commercial EEG headset. Future work includes transitioning to a 3D-printed chassis, integrating auto-regressive models to reduce EMG latency, and upgrading servo torque for improved load capacity and grip strength. This system demonstrates a feasible pathway to low-cost, biologically intuitive prosthetic control suitable for underserved and global health applications.