instructables

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino
Uno

by Upside Down Labs

In this tutorial, you are going to make a muscle strength game at your home using the Arduino Uno shield for EMG,
Muscle BioAmp Shield.
But before moving forward, let's understand a brief about Electromyography.
What is Electromyography (EMG)?
Electromyography is a technique that measures muscle response or electrical activity in response to a nerve’s stimulation
of the muscle. We can use this electrical activity to detect neuromuscular abnormalities or create solutions for some crazy
real-world problems like making arti cial limbs for amputees.

About Muscle BioAmp Shield:

Muscle BioAmp Shield is an all-in-one Arduino Uno Shield for Electromyography (EMG). It is perfect for beginners as it
can be stacked on top of Arduino Uno to record, visualize and listen to the muscle signals to make amazing Human-
Computer Interface (HCI) projects. It also comes with various plug-and-play options so you can connect hundreds of
devices like OLED screens, character displays, accelerometers, and servo claws to name just a few using the I2C interface.
This is one of the products in the entire BioAmp series of sensors from Upside Down Labs which is designed in a way to
teach you the basics of the instrumentation ampli er, active bandpass ltering, soldering, programming, neuroscience,
Human-Computer Interface (HCI), Brain-Computer Interface (BCI), etc.

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 1
Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 2
Supplies:

HARDWARE:
1 x Muscle BioAmp Shield Kit (Upside Down Labs Store | Amazon India | Tindie Store)
The Kit includes:
Muscle BioAmp Shield PCB x 1
Components
Ceramic capacitors.
Electrolytic capacitors
Resistors
Resistors
LEDs
Audio Jack
Connectors
Tactical Switch
Optocoupler
Quad OpAmp, etc.
BioAmp Cable (100cm) x 1
Gel Electrodes x 24
Muscle BioAmp Band x 1
BioAmp AUX Cable x 1
9V Snap Cable x 1
STEMMA Cables x 6

1 x Arduino uno with USB cable (Type A to Type B)

1 x Servo Motor (SG90)
1 x Servo Pointer (3D Printed)
Glue Gun
Soldering iron and other equipments to solder the components on the PCB
SOFTWARE:
Arduino IDE
OTHER MATERIALS:
Cardboard box (15 x 13 x 4cm)
SKIN PREPARATION KIT & ELECTRODE GEL:
1 x NuPrep skin preparation gel (Upside Down Labs Store | Tindie Store)
1 x Wet wipe
1 x Electrode Gel (only if using Muscle BioAmp Band) ( Upside Down Labs Store | Tindie Store)

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 3
Step 1: Assembly

First of all, you have to assemble all the passive components on the Muscle BioAmp Shield PCB. For a step-by-step guide
of the assembly, you can follow the video above or take a look at this interactive BOM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaIDXosPSbs

Step 2: Stacking on Arduino Uno

Stack the Muscle BioAmp Shield on top of Arduino Uno properly.

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 4
Step 3: Connecting Electrode Cable

Connect the BioAmp Cable to Muscle BioAmp Shield as shown above.

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 5
Step 4: Connecting Servo Motor

Connect the servo motor to Muscle BioAmp Shield as shown above.

Step 5: Downloading Arduino IDE

Download the Arduino IDE from the link given below:

https://www.arduino.cc/en/software
(We have used Arduino IDE version 1.8.19 for this project)
After downloading, connect the Arduino Uno to your laptop using the USB Cable (Type A to Type B)
Note: Make sure your laptop is not connected to a charger and sit 5m away from any AC appliances for best signal
acquisition.

Step 6: Coding Time!

Copy paste the Arduino Sketch given below in Arduino IDE and ash/upload the code in Arduino:
Muscle Strength Game: https://github.com/upsidedownlabs/Muscle-BioAmp-Arduino-
Firmware/blob/main/7_MuscleStrengthGame/7_MuscleStrengthGame.ino

Step 7: Preparing the Box

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 6
The dimensions of the cardboard box we chose is 15 x 13 x 4 cm which gives perfect space for the Muscle BioAmp Shield
and servo motor to be placed inside the enclosure/box.
After selecting the cardboard box, now it's time to design a dashboard or muscle strength bar. To make this game a bit
interesting, we have made the bar which features Starlord, Antman, Hulk, Thor, IronMan and Thanos. So the ultimate
goal of the game would be to become Thanos.
Now you need to make 2 holes in the box, one in the front ane one in back side for USB cable of Arduino Uno and the
BioAmp Cable respectively.
The front part of the servo motor should be outside the box where the servo pointer will be assembled. To do that you
can cut the cardboard box as shown in the photos above and use glue gun to x it properly.

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 7
Step 8: 3D Printing Servo Pointer

Now you need to 3D print the servo pointer by using the le given below and then assemble it on top of servo motor.
View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/F0A/9JW6/LLNQWX3Q/F0A9JW6LLNQWX3Q.stl

Step 9: Electrode Placements

We have 2 options to measure the EMG signals, either using the gel electrodes or using dry electrode based EMG band.
You can try both of them one by one.
Measuring EMG using Gel electrodes:
1. Connect the BioAmp Cable to gel electrodes,
2. Peel the plastic backing from electrodes
3. Place the IN+ and IN- cables on the arm near the ulnar nerve & REF (reference) at the back of your hand.

Measuring EMG using Muscle BioAmp Band, a dry electrode based EMG band:
1. Connect the BioAmp Cable to Muscle BioAmp Band in a way such that IN+ and IN- are placed on the arm
near the ulnar nerve & REF (reference) on the far side of the band.
2. Now put a small drop of electrode gel between the skin and metallic part of BioAmp Cable to get the best
results.

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 8
Step 10: Connect to Power Bank

To make it a portable game, you can use power bank. To power the game, just connect the USB cable of Arduino Uno to
Power Bank and you are good to go.

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 9
If you don't want to use the power bank, then directly plug the USB cable of Arduino Uno to your laptop which is not
connected to any charger.

Step 11: Measure Your Muscle Strength and Become Thanos

The game is ready!!

Flex your muscles as much as you can to move the servo pointer from Starlord to Thanos. The more powerful you ex,
the more the bar will move.
Let us know your feedback in the comments and feel free to ask any questions.
You can also mail us at support@upsidedownlabs.tech for any kind of support while you are making this project.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bSfTnFcCHYM

Please send the code

Hey Purva,

Please check again, the code is now updated in Step 6

https://github.com/upsidedownlabs/Muscle-BioAmp-Arduino-
Firmware/blob/main/7_MuscleStrengthGame/7_MuscleStrengthGame.ino
how much time would it take

Everything is plug and play, so it won't take much time.

The only time consuming steps are 3D printing servo pointer and making the box.

Making a Muscle Strength Game Using Muscle BioAmp Shield & Arduino Uno: Page 10