Your Biosignal, Your Code 1/2: First Project with Spiker:bit

What You’ll Learn

Basics of Bioelectricity:

• How muscles, heart, and brain generate electrical signals
• What are EMG (electromyography), ECG (electrocardiography), and EEG (electroencephalography)
• How biological signals can be measured and interpreted

Working with the Spiker:bit Platform:

• How Backyard Brains Spiker:bit and micro:bit work
• Proper electrode placement for different types of signals
• How to record, visualize, and analyze bioelectric signals in real-time
• Basics of programming micro:bit for bioengineering

Your First Project:

• Designing a simple bio-reactive system
• Connecting biological signals to LED lights or speakers
• Testing and tuning your project
• Possibilities for further experimentation

Hands-On Learning

In this workshop, you become a bioengineer. You’ll receive a Spiker:bit kit with electrodes, micro:bit, LED strips, and audio modules. Your task is to design a system that responds to your biological signals.

First, you’ll place electrodes on your biceps and record EMG signals while clenching your fist. Seeing the amplitudes on screen, you’ll program the micro:bit to light up LEDs proportionally to your grip strength – the harder you squeeze, the more lights turn on.

Then we move to heart rate. You’ll place electrodes on your chest and record ECG signals. You’ll program a system that converts each heartbeat into a light pulse or sound signal – your heart becomes a metronome.

Finally, if you wish, you can experiment with brain signals (EEG) and create a system that responds to your concentration or relaxation.

Why Sign Up?

This workshop is a unique opportunity to experience futuristic technology that’s already changing the worlds of medicine, robotics, and interactive art. Brain-machine interfaces are used for prosthetic control, neurorehabilitation, assistive technologies – and you’ll learn the basic principles through hands-on work with the equipment.

No technical or programming background required. We learn all concepts through practice, step by step. Ideal for anyone who wants to understand how technology can read and use signals from our bodies, from students to professionals looking to expand their knowledge.

About the Instructor

The workshop is led by Aleksa Vasić, Master Biologist and science communicator. Aleksa combines biology, neuroscience, and technology to bring modern scientific discoveries closer to the general public.

Through hands-on demonstrations, he shows how the electrical signals that control our bodies can be observed, measured, and used to control external devices. Aleksa has years of experience working with Backyard Brains equipment and has led over 20 workshops on electrophysiology and bioengineering.

Have a question?