I've a Ultracortex Mark III headset (the revised version) and I would like to try the new Ultracortex Mark IV. My question is: are the electrodes units of the Mark III compatible with the ones of Mark IV?
The FRI Ag-AgCl combs and cones and ear clips are the same. I believe the 3D printed "electrode holders" and Octabolts/nuts are different sizes between the III and IV designs. They are more densely spaced on IV.
Thank you @wjcroft for your reply. That is the same thing that I thought: electrode holders and octonuts are probably different.
My problem is that I cannot print on flexible filaments, so I won't be able to add the SuperNova extensions on my Mark III headset. Do you know if the Mark IV kit will only be available for sale or if the .stl files for the 3D printed electrode units will be provided?
@wjcrof, I took a look at the files uploaded on github, but I think that there is no .stl file to 3D print the spikey units. So, I assume that it is possible to have them by only purchasing the headset from the store.
Ah, sorry. On Mark III, the electrode holder parts were 3D printed. On Mark IV these are injection molded. The actual electrode itself is the FRI parts I mentioned before. Because of the smaller dimensions in IV, the injection molding gives much greater precision and fit. As well as speeding production / assembly.
I don't know if the Spiky Units can be purchased separately for home printing. Send an email to contact at openbci.com and ask. When you find out, post here.
It might be possible to print the component parts (octabolt and electrode holder), but because of the substantially smaller dimensions than III, smooth action of the assembly may be compromised and not functional. These STLs may not even exist because they were "never printed". Instead CAD dimensions were given to the injection molding company.
Oh, now everything is clear! I thought that the "spikey units" were 3D printed too! I'm sorry. I'll send an email asking if it's possible to purchase only them and I'll post here.
I recently inquired about purchasing electrode holders outside of the diy kits to complete a set of 19 electrodes needed for a standard QEEG. The answer was "Right now, we are not offering the electrodes for sale individually, but it is something that we are looking at for sure." This means that I will not be using the Ultracortex for my current project.
It would certainly be helpful if STL's of these holders could be made available. I realize this might mean less short-term income for openBCI. It would encourage users who otherwise might use openBCI hardware and headgear, but cannot afford the cost of many electrode holders, so in the long-run openBCI is likely to win. The cost of Ultracortex headgear + three full diy electrode kits does not compare favorably to other alternatives when a full QEEG electrode array is needed -- and a great deal of EEG research requires a full QEEG array.
I don't know if you asked about this alternative way to get a 19 channel Ultracortex: just request that the OpenBCI Store add an option for the Print It Yourself kit (and other kits) for 19 channels. There are already 8 and 16 channel options. Having one more option for the 3 additional sites seems reasonable. Especially for QEEG researchers.
Hello William and Michael. Mark IV designer here. The Octabolts are indeed different, but were designed to be printable like Mark III. Of course all of our prototypes were printed. The plan was to distribute all design files, STL as well as the solid model files that were sent to the manufacturer for molding. There is also a wide selection of accessories and part variations. long/short bolts, case variations, mounting systems, frame/node components etc. I am not sure why these are not on the GitHub, but I will follow up with them.
And thanks for all the great work on the Mark IV. It looks like a genuine contribution to the field of EEG research -- that's the reason for our enthusiasm for finding a way to build it. I appreciate your follow up on the design files and look forward to working with them.
Comments
The final files should be posted here,
https://github.com/OpenBCI/Ultracortex/tree/master/Mark_IV
I'm not sure if there has been a revision not pushed to the repo since June 2016. @Conor would know.
re: printing the SuperNova flexible parts, perhaps you can get those some other way? For example posting a request in the Opportunities section.
William
I don't know if the Spiky Units can be purchased separately for home printing. Send an email to contact at openbci.com and ask. When you find out, post here.
It might be possible to print the component parts (octabolt and electrode holder), but because of the substantially smaller dimensions than III, smooth action of the assembly may be compromised and not functional. These STLs may not even exist because they were "never printed". Instead CAD dimensions were given to the injection molding company.
It would certainly be helpful if STL's of these holders could be made available. I realize this might mean less short-term income for openBCI. It would encourage users who otherwise might use openBCI hardware and headgear, but cannot afford the cost of many electrode holders, so in the long-run openBCI is likely to win. The cost of Ultracortex headgear + three full diy electrode kits does not compare favorably to other alternatives when a full QEEG electrode array is needed -- and a great deal of EEG research requires a full QEEG array.
Best regards,
Michael
And thanks for all the great work on the Mark IV. It looks like a genuine contribution to the field of EEG research -- that's the reason for our enthusiasm for finding a way to build it. I appreciate your follow up on the design files and look forward to working with them.
Best regards,
Michael
Ultracortex Mark IV Development Kit
-Aaron