Design of an SSVEP-based BCI system with visual servo module for a service robot to execute multiple tasks

Brain-computer interface (BCI) systems can translate the human mind into control commands, which makes it feasible to improve the life quality of physically challenged people. However, in real-life situations, it is still difficult for users to utilize robots to provide basic services with BCI systems. We aimed to propose a BCI-based system with a visual servo module to operate a service robot. We recorded single-channel steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) as input signals for the BCI system of this study. The visual stimuli for inducing SSVEP were modulated at seven different frequencies with the sampled sinusoidal method. Correspondingly, this SSVEP-based BCI system can generate seven control commands for the operation of the service robot, which can provide three fundamental services: mobility, manipulation, and delivery. The visual servo module was established to reduce the burden of users and accelerate service procedures. To evaluate the performance of this system, subjects were recruited to participate in the experiments. All the participants succeed in operating the robot to provide the basic services. According to the experimental results, this SSVEP-based BCI system that incorporates the visual servo module can be effectively used to operate service robots with reduced number of channels and increased ability to perform multiple tasks.