Mind Controlled 3D Printing

It is not everyday that one can control a motor with just the mind. Led by Dr. Hugo Sanabria in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Mind Controlled 3D Printing Creative Inquiry aims to utilize only the electrical signals given off by the brain to design and build whatever can be imagined.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has become popular with the onset of the Maker Movement— a shift toward open-source software and collaboration among numerous people. Sanabria’s Creative Inquiry encapsulates the movement’s do-it-yourself mentality, according to one of the head students of the project, Perry Bolick, a mechanical engineering senior. After taking one of Sanabria’s classes, Bolick and Sanabria decided to combine their backgrounds in biophysics and mechanical engineering to take on this demanding project. “Neither of us knew what the other specialty had to offer, so until we came together, I don’t think either of us could have made it happen on our own,” Bolick said.

After researching current developments in the field, like mind-controlled video games and drones, the team picked up an electroencephalogram (EEG) made to monitor electrical signals produced by the brain. These signals are interpreted by an EMOTIV proprietary algorithm that identifies each signal and maps it to a magnitude and direction. The mapped signals are then turned into keystrokes in a program that the Creative Inquiry developed, which are then converted to a printer’s G-code. So far, the team has been able to 3D print in one dimension and are eventually hoping to write letters by printing in three dimensions with multiple motors.

Sanabria attributes the project’s success to the team’s resourcefulness and diversity. He divided up the groups within the project to have equal numbers of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science majors. “As a mechanical engineer, it’s imperative for us to be learning electrical and computer engineering at the same time. You need to be fluent in programming. You need to be fluent in electrical. It’s just required now, you don’t have a choice,” Bolick said.

As the onset of the Maker Movement has called upon people to innovate, this Creative Inquiry answers in their own individual style while gaining crucial engineering experience along the way. “From my perspective, it’s a perfect engineering type of project. It’s interdisciplinary and you get to be hands-on and solve problems which are really critical when you go into the job market,” Sanabria said. With 3D printing becoming incorporated into manufacturing and larger industrial processes, the students in this project are sure to advance into the workforce with a unique set of skills.