Backyard Brain having fun with their SpikeBox (screenshot). © DR
In order to supply power to all sorts of objects, the LittleBits EMG SpikerBox kit uses muscular electric activity.
Why not use your muscles’ electric activity to make music or remote-control a robot? No need for a long arm thanks to the DIY LittleBits EMG SpikerBox kit created by Backyard Brains, a research collective at the University of Michigan that tinkers with everything to promote neurosciences among young people.
Their EMG SpikerBox is inspired from electromyography, a medical technique that records the electric currents of muscular activity. Here, they have reappropriated this advanced technique to measure electric activity and translate it into sound, or activate a motor using SpikerBox, made up of with LittleBits—very simple electronic modules that can be used to prototype both basic sensors and complex projects.
In the video demo below, they show how to put two electrodes on a muscle and hook it up to EMG SpikerBox. After that, it can be connected via USB to almost anything: speaker, monitor… In the end, the electricity produced is enough to make music (albeit with low-bit output), remotely maneuver a robotic arm, measure reaction time during a jump… and many more things to imagine.
Video demo of EMG SpikerBox:
