OpenBCI Ganglion – Container

Creating an OpenBCI Ganglion Container

The OpenBCI Ganglion EEG reader is great, but it does ship as a very bare bones circuit board. Circuit boards do need to be dealt with carefully so as not to damage them with static electricity, so a container is quite helpful.

Luckily Autodidacts has created a beautiful OpenSource container for both the OpenBCI Cyton and the Ganglion. Will blog about this BCIBox in more detail later on.

On the other hand, if you want to make a container out of cardboard here are instructions on creating an inexpensive cardboard container for the OpenBCI Ganglion.

First you’ll need a couple of small cardboard boxes, a couple of Bumble Bee Sardine boxes did the trick, or certain band-aid boxes are also about the right size. You’ll also need a twist-tie (the kind used for garbage bags).

After finishing the container, we also added a shoelace and paper clip:

First take out the tins of tasty sardines, then cut off the top of one of the boxes, leaving a lip of about 3/4 inch (or 2 cm).

Lining up the Ganglion, and using a razor blade (with tape on one side for safety), cut out a hole large enough to access the on/off switch.

The twist-tie is used to keep the Ganglion in place, and will go through the little feet of the Ganglion that are on the right-hand side. Line up the Ganglion in the box, then use a pen to mark the outline of the little foot on the right-hand side.

Then take out the Ganglion and cut out a piece of cardboard that is width of the middle of one foot to another:

Then use that piece of cardboard to measure out where the holes should be made for the twist-tie. Use the end of a ball-point pen to punch two holes in the cardboard:

Now thread the twist-tie through the little feet and through the two holes and twist together at the back of the box.

Now, take out the twist-tie and the Ganglion and cut to about the same length both boxes (about 3.5 inches or 9 cm):

Put back the Ganglion and the twist-tie, and then tape the two boxes together.

Note, to make it easier to take out the Ganglion at some future date (say if you get a BCIBox), make sure to not tape up where the two boxes meet closest to the twist-tie. That way you’ll still have access to untwisting the tie and thus being able to take out the Ganglion.

The next step is optional. To dress up this container I took a page of address labels and ran them through my inkjet printer, coloring them a light green. Then I slapped these labels all over the container until it was all covered up with lovely green labels:

As a nice finish, my hubby suggested adding a shoelace and paper clip to keep the Ganglion closer to the test subject’s head! (Inspired by the BCIBox)

Our dog, all ready for an EEG reading!

Also see the OpenBCI Page