Cloud
BrainFlow Devices

BrainFlow Devices

PiEEG Cloud includes a BrainFlow Devices tab in the Session Lobby at cloud.pieeg.com/lobby (opens in a new tab) that connects third-party EEG and biosignal boards directly in the browser over Web Bluetooth (GATT) and Web Serial (USB CDC / FTDI / CP210x / Bluetooth SPP) without installing Python or native drivers.

Access & Licensing Policy: PiEEG Cloud is included at no cost with all PiEEG hardware. Browser-native support for third-party BrainFlow-compatible boards is unlocked free during the launch period (no sign-in required) and will transition to a small one-time unlock or subscription later.

Architecture & Signal Path

Physical Board (WebBLE GATT or WebSerial UART)
  ↓
BrainFlow Profile Driver (src/lib/brainflow/)
  - GATT characteristic subscription or UART baud/command init
  - Frame alignment (0xA0..0xC0, Fletcher trailer, or bitfield tags)
  - ADC code → microvolt (µV) conversion
  ↓
Browser-Side DspChain (src/lib/dsp.ts)
  - Hampel outlier spike filter
  - 5th-order Butterworth bandpass (1 Hz to min(40 Hz, 0.45 * fs))
  - IIR line-noise notch filter (50 / 60 Hz when < Nyquist)
  ↓
Ring Buffer → Waveforms, 256-pt FFT, 3D Topomap / 3D IMU Hand, Live Lab, 35+ Experiences

When you select a board from the BrainFlow Devices tab:

  1. User-gesture hardware pairing: Clicking Connect invokes navigator.bluetooth.requestDevice() (filtered by the board's GATT service UUIDs and advertised name prefixes) or navigator.serial.requestPort().
  2. Protocol initialization: The driver transmits the board's start sequence (for example, v / d / b on Cyton, preset p21 + d on Muse, 0x3F / 0xA3 0x00 / 0x01 / 0x07 on Shimmer3, or 0x01 0x62 on AAVAA V3) and sends the matching stop sequence on disconnect.
  3. Sample rate & Nyquist adaptation: The session's live sample rate store (sampleRateStore) updates to the board's native ADC rate (50 Hz to 512 Hz). The browser-side DspChain automatically clamps its upper bandpass cutoff to min(40 Hz, floor(0.45 * sampleRate)) and disables the 50/60 Hz notch if the line frequency exceeds Nyquist.
  4. IMU & 3D Hand Telemetry: Boards that transmit 6-axis accelerometer and gyroscope data on the wire (Shimmer3, Knight IMU, BrainAlive, Muse 2, Muse S, Muse S Athena, Muse 2016) feed live IMU samples into the browser complementary filter (auraVrImuStore). In the dashboard FFT pane, you can switch between the 3D Topomap and the 3D Hand · IMU view (AuraHandView, showing 3D orientation, Roll/Pitch/Yaw, Accel/Gyro telemetry, and per-channel ExG RMS bars). Shimmer3 and Knight IMU default to the 3D Hand · IMU view; scalp + IMU headsets default to the Topomap view.

Supported Browser-Native Boards (19 Profiles)

Only boards from BrainFlow whose physical layer operates over open BLE GATT characteristics or serial COM ports are listed in the browser-native tab. First-party boards (PIEEG_BOARD 56 and IRONBCI_32_BOARD 65) are listed in the dedicated PiEEG Devices tab. Boards that require closed vendor C++ shared libraries (.dll / .so / .dylib) or raw OS UDP/TCP server sockets cannot run inside the browser security sandbox.

Web Bluetooth (GATT) - 7 Profiles

BoardBrainFlow Enum (BoardIds)ChRateDefault 10-20 LayoutIMUWire Protocol & Scale
GanglionGANGLION_NATIVE_BOARD (46)4200 HzFp1, Fp2, C3, C4-GATT 0xFE84 (notify 2d30c082, write 2d30c083), b/s control, FW v2/v3 18/19-bit decompression, 1.2 V Vref / 51x gain
Muse 2MUSE_2_BOARD (38)4256 HzTP9, AF7, AF8, TP106-axisGATT 0xFE8D, control 273e0001 (v1, p21, d/h), 4 EEG notify chars (273e0003..06) + IMU (273e0009/0a), 12 x 12-bit samples/pkt, 0.48828 µV/LSB
Muse SMUSE_S_BOARD (39)4256 HzTP9, AF7, AF8, TP106-axisGATT 0xFE8D, control 273e0001 (v1, p21, d/h), 4 EEG notify chars (273e0003..06) + IMU (273e0009/0a), 12 x 12-bit samples/pkt, 0.48828 µV/LSB
Muse S AthenaMUSE_S_ATHENA_BOARD (67)4256 HzTP9, AF7, AF8, TP106-axisGATT 0xFE8D, preset p1041 + dc001/L1, multiplexed notify 273e0013/14, tags 0x11/0x12 14-bit LSB EEG + tag 0x47 IMU, 1450/16383 µV/LSB
Muse 2016MUSE_2016_BOARD (41)4256 HzTP9, AF7, AF8, TP106-axisGATT 0xFE8D, control 273e0001 (v1, p21, d/h), 4 EEG notify chars (273e0003..06) + IMU (273e0009/0a), 12 x 12-bit samples/pkt
BrainAliveBRAINALIVE_BOARD (40)8250 HzF7, FT7, T7, CP5, Cz, C6, FC6, F46-axisGATT 0xFE40 (BA_FLEX), write 0000fe41, notify 0000fe42, 8-byte gain/Vref handshake + 220-byte (5 x 44B) int24 BE EEG + int16 BE IMU
AAVAA V3AAVAA_V3_BOARD (53)850 HzF7, F3, T7, C3, F8, F4, T8, C4-Nordic UART 6e400001, start 0x0162 / stop 0x0139, 47-byte 0xA0..0xC0 frames, 8 x float32 LE x ADS1299 scale (4.5 V, gain 12)

Web Serial (USB / Dongle / Virtual COM) - 12 Profiles

BoardBrainFlow Enum (BoardIds)ChRateDefault LayoutIMUWire Protocol & Scale
CytonCYTON_BOARD (0)8250 HzFp1, Fp2, C3, C4, P7, P8, O1, O2-115200 baud FTDI dongle, v/d/b start, s stop, 33-byte 0xA0..0xC0 frames, 8 x int24 BE ADS1299 (4.5 V, gain 24, 0.02235 µV/LSB)
Cyton + DaisyCYTON_DAISY_BOARD (2)16125 Hz16-ch 10-20 (Fp1..P4)-115200 baud FTDI dongle, pairs even (Daisy ch 9-16) and odd (Cyton ch 1-8) 33-byte 0xA0..0xC0 packets into 16 channels @ 125 Hz
FreeEEG32FREEEEG32_BOARD (17)32512 Hz32-ch 10-20 (Fp1..Oz)-921600 baud USB CDC, auto-detected 0xA0..0xC0 frame length (>= 99 bytes), 32 x int24 BE AD7771 (2.5 V Vref, gain 8, 0.03725 µV/LSB)
FreeEEG128FREEEEG128_BOARD (52)128256 Hz128-ch (Fp1..Ch128)-921600 baud USB CDC, auto-detected 0xA0..0xC0 frame length (>= 387 bytes), 128 x int24 BE AD7771 (2.5 V Vref, gain 8, 0.03725 µV/LSB)
KnightNEUROPAWN_KNIGHT_BOARD (57)8125 Hz8-ch 10-20-115200 baud USB serial, 21-byte 0xA0..0xC0 frames, 8 x int16 BE + 2 LOFF status bytes (4.0 V Vref, gain 12, 10.1728 µV/LSB)
Knight IMUNEUROPAWN_KNIGHT_BOARD_IMU (66)8125 Hz8-ch 10-209-axis (Hand default)115200 baud USB serial, 57-byte 0xA0..0xC0 frames, 8 x int16 LE EXG + 2 LOFF bytes + 9 x float32 LE IMU
EnophoneENOPHONE_BOARD (37)4250 HzTP10, TP9, C4, C3-Bluetooth SPP virtual COM port (115200 baud), 20-byte 'bS' header frames, 4 x int32 BE (/ 256 -> 24-bit, 5.0 V Vref, gain 100)
Explore 4EXPLORE_4_CHAN_BOARD (44)4250 HzFp1, Fp2, C3, C4-Bluetooth SPP virtual COM port, 8-byte ExploreHeader + 0xAFBEADDE Fletcher trailer, int24 LE (status + 4 ch, 2.4 V/4.5 V Vref, gain 6)
Explore 8EXPLORE_8_CHAN_BOARD (45)8250 Hz8-ch 10-20-Bluetooth SPP virtual COM port, 8-byte ExploreHeader + 0xAFBEADDE Fletcher trailer, int24 LE (status + 8 ch, 2.4 V/4.5 V Vref, gain 6)
Explore+ 8EXPLORE_PLUS_8_CHAN_BOARD (54)8250 Hz8-ch 10-20-Bluetooth SPP virtual COM port, PID 0x96 framing + 0xAFBEADDE Fletcher trailer, int24 LE (status + 8 ch, 2.4 V Vref, gain 6)
Explore+ 32EXPLORE_PLUS_32_CHAN_BOARD (55)32250 Hz32-ch 10-20-Bluetooth SPP virtual COM port, PID 0x94 framing + 0xAFBEADDE Fletcher trailer, int24 LE (status + 32 ch, 2.4 V Vref, gain 6)
Shimmer3SHIMMER3_BOARD (68)4512 HzEXG1-Ch1..EXG2-Ch26/9-axis (Hand default)Bluetooth SPP virtual COM port (115200 baud), opcode 0x3F/0xA3/0x01 inquiry handshake + 0x07 start, 0x00 frames with 3B LE timestamp + dual ADS1292R 24/16-bit BE ExG + IMU

Automated Upstream Compatibility Check

PiEEG Cloud tracks all 66 BoardIds defined in upstream brainflow-dev/brainflow (opens in a new tab):

  • 19 Browser-native boards (src/lib/brainflow/catalog.ts): 7 WebBLE + 12 WebSerial profiles.
  • 2 First-party boards (PIEEG_BOARD 56, IRONBCI_32_BOARD 65): handled directly in the first-party PiEEG Devices tab.
  • 3 Virtual boards (PLAYBACK_FILE_BOARD -3, STREAMING_BOARD -2, SYNTHETIC_BOARD -1).
  • 5 Deprecated BLED112 dongle wrappers (GANGLION_BOARD 1, BRAINBIT_BLED_BOARD 18, MUSE_S_BLED_BOARD 21, MUSE_2_BLED_BOARD 22, MUSE_2016_BLED_BOARD 42): superseded by native WebBLE profiles.
  • 10 Raw TCP/UDP socket boards (GALEA_BOARD 3, GANGLION_WIFI_BOARD 4, CYTON_WIFI_BOARD 5, CYTON_DAISY_WIFI_BOARD 6, NOTION_1_BOARD 13, NOTION_2_BOARD 14, CROWN_BOARD 23, EMOTIBIT_BOARD 47, NTL_WIFI_BOARD 50, BIOLISTENER_BOARD 64).
  • 27 Closed-source vendor SDK boards (BRAINBIT_BOARD 7, UNICORN_BOARD 8, CALLIBRI_* 9-11, GFORCE_* 16, 19, ANT_NEURO_EE_* 24-36, 51, SYNCHRONI_* / OB5000 / OB3000 58-63).

A weekly GitHub Action (.github/workflows/brainflow-upstream-check.yml) runs npm run check:brainflow (cloud/scripts/check-brainflow-upstream.mjs) every Monday at 09:00 UTC. The script fetches brainflow_constants.h, brainflow_boards.cpp, and board_controller.cpp from upstream master and opens a GitHub Issue only if a new BoardIds enum entry or ID change is detected.

How to Connect

Open the Session Lobby

Open cloud.pieeg.com/lobby (opens in a new tab) in a desktop Chromium browser (Chrome, Edge, Brave, or Opera) over HTTPS.

Switch to the BrainFlow Devices tab

In the Connect Your Device panel, select the BrainFlow Devices tab. You can filter by Web Bluetooth or Web Serial, or search by board name, BoardId number, or 10-20 channel label.

Pair or select the serial port

Click Connect on your board's card:

  • Web Bluetooth boards: Select your powered-on headset/board from the browser's Bluetooth chooser.
  • Web Serial boards: Select the USB dongle, USB CDC device, or OS-paired Bluetooth SPP virtual COM port from the serial port chooser.

Attribution & Legal Notice

Protocol specifications, board descriptors (brainflow_boards.cpp), BoardIds enum identifiers, and packet conversion equations are derived from the open-source BrainFlow (opens in a new tab) project:

  • Upstream Repository: github.com/brainflow-dev/brainflow (opens in a new tab)
  • License: MIT License (Copyright (c) 2018 Andrey Parfenov and BrainFlow contributors)
  • In-App Inspection: Click Protocol specs & attribution inside the BrainFlow tab in the Session Lobby to inspect the per-board C++ source file links and framing summaries.

Third-party board names and BrainFlow BoardIds are referenced strictly to identify protocol interoperability (nominative fair use). PiEEG Cloud is an independent platform and is not endorsed by or affiliated with third-party hardware manufacturers.

OverviewLive Lab (Bio-Pen)