Contributed EIT Data:

Authors: Sascha Reidt, Jonathan From
Date: 2009, 2012
Brief Description:

To precisely and reproducibly position test objects within the saline tank a position controller was constructed from standard LEGO parts in connection with a set of motors and two controllers (LEGO NXT Mindstorm). Two test objects could be positioned independently by a total of six position controllers, two for each of the X, Y and Z directions. In order to overcome the limitations in the range of motion imposed by the physical size of the LEGO parts the entire control unit rotates 360° on a plastic support placed on top of a cylindrical tank. The movement protocol was stored on a computer and transmitted to the position controllers via Bluetooth. A control program stores the coordinates and the position controller automatically moves the object to the desired locations.

Original work was done in 2009 by Sascha Reidt in Landquart, Switzerland. In 2012, Jonathan From updated the software, tests and documentation.

License: Creative Commons Artistic License (with Attribution)
Attribution Requirement: Users of this system are requested to acknowledge Sascha Reidt, and reference this publication:
    Y. Maimaitijiang, P.O. Gaggero, S. Böhm, and A. Adler, "Evaluation of EIT system performance," submitted for Physiol. Meas. Dec. 2010.
Requirements: In order to use the provided software you will need:
  • A PC running Windows XP/Vista/7 with bluetooth connection
  • The lego™ pieces described in the construction documentation
  • 2×Lego™ Mindstorms NXT controllers
Contributed Files:
Files: Description
Robot_Construction_Manual_EIT.pdf Lego™ NXT based position controller construction manual
Phantom-Positioning-System_User_Guide.pdf Software installation and tutorials
Robot_Construction_Documentation_DE.pdf Project report for robot system (in German)
Position-Controller-PC-exe.zip Position controller software (PC) − executable (Win32)
Position-Controller-PC-src.zip Position controller software (PC) − source code
Position-Controller-NXT.zip Position controller software (NXT)
Files (from 2009 release):
Position-Controller-PC-exe-v1.0.zip Position controller software (PC) − executable (Win32)
Position-Controller-PC-src-v1.0.zip Position controller software (PC) − source code
Position-Controller-NXT-v1.0.zip Position controller software (NXT)
Description For the position controller, we have to set parameters based on target volume type, single or double objects, specific positions and PC port number to establish a connection between a PC and the controller (a separate tutorial is provided on EIDORS website on how to operate it). The position controller moves the target to the specified position and gives an indication to the user to take EIT measurement after certain delay for each protocol.

Drivers and Downloads Some instructions for debugging the setup
  1. Open an explore window
  2. Go to the folder called WINNT or windows
  3. Go to the folder called system32
  4. Find the file called fantom.dll
  5. Right click on file and select properties
  6. Under the version tap, the file should have the following version number: 1.0.2.49152. If it has version number 1.0.1.49152 you need to update the USB driver.
Usage examples This section provides some quick examples of how to chose single or multiple objects and set the timing and other control parameters. Refer to the software documentation for full instructions.

Note: We recommend that the position controller be calibrated (initialized)

How to use the software to move the cubic object to a certain position


Figure: one-object protocol,


Figure: two-object protocol


Figure: Setting of COM port number and time delay

Last Modified: $Date: 2017-02-28 13:12:08 -0500 (Tue, 28 Feb 2017) $ by $Author: aadler $