Myoware EMG Sensor Trouble

Other Hardware Sensors
1

Hello AdvancerTechnologies.

I have purchased the Myoware EMG Kit to use the EMG sensor using the EMG electrode cable.

The signal is heavily disturbed by the simple movement of the cable itself, making the use of this system impossible.

First question: why sell such poor accessories? I paid 80 euros for this system and can't use it because the EMG cable is not suitable for this use.

Second question: could you tell me where to buy a quality EMG cable or a practical way to shield the cable you provide (link)?

Please help us to solve the problem, I see it is really common.

Thank you.

2

AdvencerTechnologies (Sparkfun - Myoware) answered me as follow:

"Most of the time this is caused by how the electrodes were setup. EMG sensors are very sensitive to electrode placement, skin prep, and skin contact. I highly recommend reading through this great overview of how to properly setup EMG sensors especially the sections on skin prep and electrode placement."

But in the guide suggested by AdvencerTechnologies (a pdf of 61 pages) there is not a solution to the low quality EMG cable supplied in the Myoware kit.

Braiding the electrode cables do not work.

Also the positioning of the sensors can affect the intensity of the signal but is not correlated to the wire cable movements.

Other suggestions?

3

I think you are confused! This is an Arduino forum, not the seller of your piece of equipment.

Paul

4

Paul, I think it is allowed to talk about components that work with the Arduino; other topics talk about other components usually used with the Arduino technologies.
I use an original Arduino Nano with it and the sketches to use the Myoware run on the Arduino IDE. Also the Myoware is used by the Arduino community. So I think that this topic is pertinent and I hope to find a here a person that has encountered the same problem and found a solution.

5

Hi! For the best support we highly recommend emailing us at support@myoware.com.

We do not make the electrodes cables that come with the Sparkfun kit. Both the kit and the cables are Sparkfun products. We designed the shields but Sparkfun manufacturers and sells the shields. We only manufacture the sensor in-house.

I do not have any recommendations on "higher quality" cables as the 3.5mm connector is somewhat unique for EMG cables. I do not know of any off the shelf cables that use the connector and provide shielding. If this is the route you want to go down, then you're going to have to make custom cables with shielded wiring.

As for your issues with the cables, I believe what you are experiencing is called cable swing artifacts. Keep in mind that the MyoWare was designed primarily to be placed directly on the skin to eliminate as much noise artifacts as possible (such as this). Electrode cables unfortunately are very good at acting like antennas which is why we designed the MyoWare with built-in electrode snaps.

I would recommend coiling any extra cable length as well as taping the cable down depending on your application.

Unfortunately, without more information on exactly how you've setup and are using the sensor, I can only provide more general recommendations.

Let me know if you have any more questions. If you post pictures of your setup, I can see if I can spot any issues visually.

Cheers,
Brian