PiEEG‑16

Sixteen channels on a Raspberry Pi. Enough to map the whole scalp, or brain, eyes and muscles in one session.

Two ADS1299 converters in a daisy chain double the original PiEEG. It’s the default board for PiEEG Server, which streams, records and draws live topographic maps of all sixteen channels.

Where to use it How to set it up

Where to use it

Sixteen channels change what’s possible: a picture of the whole head instead of a few points, both hemispheres at once, or several kinds of signal side by side. Pick a use case and try the live demo.

Simulated signal to show the effect. Real recordings are noisier.

How to set it up

The same shield-on-a-Pi setup as PiEEG, with twice the electrodes. Eight steps from the box to a live 16-channel map.

1
Gather the kit

PiEEG-16 is a shield, so you bring the Raspberry Pi. Everything runs from one power bank.
- PiEEG-16 shield
- Raspberry Pi 5 or 4with a microSD card and Raspberry Pi OS
- 5 V power bank3 A or more, up to 10,000 mAh
- 16 electrodes with cablesdry, or Ag/AgCl wet with gel
- 2 ear-clip electrodesfor reference and bias
- 16-channel EEG capthe PiEEG cap kit, a third-party cap with 2.54 mm pins, or DIY
- Wired keyboard, mouse and a portable monitor
2

Seat the shield on the GPIO header

With the Pi switched off, line PiEEG-16 up with the 40-pin header and press it down evenly until every pin is fully in.

A pin that misses its socket is the most common reason for a board that won’t start. Look along both rows before you power on.
3

Connect sixteen electrodes

Fit the cap and place the sixteen channel electrodes on 10-20 positions. Clip the reference to one earlobe and the bias to the other. One reference serves all sixteen channels.

This is a common 16-channel layout. Use any positions you need, and follow the pin labels on the board and the connection diagram in the quick start manual. Keep the cables short and tidy: sixteen loose leads pick up a lot of noise.
4
Power it from the battery only

Plug the power bank into the Pi and run the monitor from the same bank. The board has no patient isolation, so the battery is what keeps the person safe and the signal clean. It’s printed on the board for a reason.
Do
- 5 V power bank, 3 A or more
- Monitor powered from the same bank
- Short, thick USB cable
- Wired keyboard and mouse
Don’t
- Wall adapters or chargers
- USB from a computer on mains
- Charging while electrodes are on
- Phones and routers close by
5
Install PiEEG Server

One command installs the server. Reboot once so SPI is switched on. PiEEG-16 is the server’s default board, so plain pieeg-server is enough.

No board yet? Run pieeg-server --mock for synthetic data.
```
# install
curl -sSL \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pieeg-club/PiEEG-server/main/install.sh | bash

# first time only: enables SPI
sudo reboot

# pieeg16 is the default device
pieeg-server
```
6

Open the dashboard and the head map

Open the dashboard and press Connect. Then open the topographic map: it paints live band power onto a 3D head, with a flat 2D view if you prefer.

Placed your electrodes differently? Open the map’s placement editor with the gear button to rename or remap any channel. Your layout is saved in the browser.

http://localhost:1617On the Pi’s own monitor

http://raspberrypi.local:1617From another computer on the same network

:1616 WebSocket data stream
:1617 Web dashboard
7
Check the signal before you record

With sixteen channels, one bad contact is easy to miss. Look at every trace before you start, then work through the list.
- All sixteen traces look alike at resta flat or wild channel means a loose electrode
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off on the Piif you view the dashboard on the Pi itself
- Board on an insulating surface
- Feet off the floor, no metal stool
- Gel on the electrodes for the lowest noise
Still noisy? Short every input internally and each trace should sit within about ±1 to 3 µV. Do it on both chips: if one half is noisy and the other isn’t, you’ve found your problem.
```
# Test 1: every channel set to input short
write_byte(CHnSET, 0x01)

# Test 2: open channel 1, keep the rest shorted
write_byte(CH1SET, 0x00)
```
8
Record and stream

Record sessions to CSV, or stream to your own code and tools. With sixteen channels, LSL channel groups are worth knowing: split one board into separate EEG, EOG and EMG streams.

The PiEEG-16 SDK scripts on GitHub read the SPI directly if you prefer your own code.

Before you put it on anyone

PiEEG-16 is not a medical device and isn’t certified by the FDA, CE or any other regulator. It’s for education, research and engineering only, never for diagnosis or treatment.
The board has no patient isolation circuitry. Power the Pi, the shield and anything connected to them from a 5 V battery only.
Don’t use it with a pacemaker or other implanted device without asking a physician first.
Stop if the skin becomes irritated or the person feels any discomfort.

:1616	WebSocket data stream
:1617	Web dashboard

PiEEG‑16

Where to use it

How to set it up

Gather the kit

Seat the shield on the GPIO header

Connect sixteen electrodes

Power it from the battery only

Do

Don’t

Install PiEEG Server

Open the dashboard and the head map

Check the signal before you record

Record and stream

Before you put it on anyone