Parts, by tier, with running totals
The bench
Buy the smallest tier that lets you start this week. Prices are approximate and drift; treat each total as a ceiling. Every project page lists only its own parts, so you never need this whole page at once. The reasoning behind the tiers is on the bench tiers lesson.
Tier 0: nothing to buy
A laptop with Python. Real EEG from PhysioNet, the simulators on this site, and every explainer. You can do all of Phase 1's zero-dollar project and most of Phase 3 and 4 here.
Tier 1: the starter bench, about $192
Enough for the SpikerBox, one channel of EEG, muscle-to-motion, and the eye joystick. The multimeter and soldering iron last a decade.
Tier 1 parts
| Part | Where | Qty | Approx. |
|---|---|---|---|
| A laptop you already own, with Python 3 Windows, macOS, or Linux. Install Python via the official installer or Miniforge; MNE-Python and NumPy via pip. | Your bag | 1 | free |
| 9 V batteries, ×4, and snap connectors $9.69 for four Energizer cells plus $3.59 for three snap connectors (Amazon B0CR8RKQ5Q). Two batteries give you a ±9 V split supply. Never power anything touching skin from the wall or from a laptop USB port. | Amazon, any store | 1 | $13 |
| AD8232 heart-rate monitor breakout A complete biopotential front end on a board, and the clone comes with a cable and pads. SparkFun's version is $24.41 and has better documentation and a known-good layout. Use it to compare against your own amplifier, and to see what a good DRL looks like. | Amazon, SparkFun | 1 | $11 |
| Alligator clip leads, ×10 | Amazon | 1 | $5 |
| Arduino Nano clone (ATmega328P, CH340), ×3 A three-pack is cheaper than one genuine board and you will kill one. The official Nano Every is $14.90 for a single board if you want Arduino's support. Either has the 10-bit analog input the Web Serial plotter needs; CH340 boards work with Chrome's Web Serial. | Amazon | 1 | $13 |
| Auto-ranging digital multimeter You will use this more than any other tool, so buy an auto-ranging one; the $17 TM-510 is auto-ranging. Below that price you get manual ranging, which wastes time. A true-RMS meter is about $35 and you will not need it this year. | Amazon | 1 | $17 |
| Disposable snap ECG electrodes, bag of 50 3M Red Dot, $11.40 for fifty. Clip the alligator leads onto the snap studs rather than buying leads; a set of four 3.5 mm snap leads is $9.99 if you want them tidy. | Amazon | 1 | $12 |
| EEG conductive paste, 50 g tube Holds the cups on and lowers impedance. A 50 g tube is enough for many sessions; the 8 oz jar of Ten20, which is the clinical standard and easier to remove from hair, is $27.99. | Amazon | 1 | $9 |
| ESP32 DevKit (or Raspberry Pi Pico) For streaming from the ADS1299 board over USB later. Either board works; pick one ecosystem and learn it. | Amazon, Adafruit, SparkFun | 1 | $9 |
| Flush cutters, wire strippers, tweezers $7.99 for the stripper and flush cutter, plus $5.99 for a three-piece ESD tweezer set (Amazon B0BNNGC3Q2). | Amazon | 1 | $14 |
| Full-size breadboard, ×2, and jumper wires Two 830-point boards, two 400-point boards, and 120 jumpers for $7.99. Adafruit's single premium board is $5.95 and its contacts grip better. | Amazon | 1 | $8 |
| Gold cup EEG electrodes, set of 10 with DIN 1.5 mm leads $22.01 for ten, shipped free, in two to four weeks. The same thing on Amazon is about $60 for ten and arrives in days; the OpenBCI set is $44.99 and is usually sold out. Reusable, so clean them after each use. | AliExpress | 1 | $22 |
| Hobby servo (SG90), ×2 For muscle-to-motion. Two for $4.99, which is less than one from Adafruit. | Amazon | 1 | $5 |
| INA128 instrumentation amplifier (DIP-8), ×2 A two-pack is $9.99. TI's own INA128P is $18.99 each and the part is on a discontinuance notice, so the marketplace two-packs are grey stock; they work, but if one is noisier than the datasheet that is why. The AD620 or INA118 are interchangeable for our purposes. Get the through-hole DIP version for breadboards. | Amazon | 2 | $10 |
| LM386 audio amplifier, ×10 Drives a small speaker so you can hear spikes. Sold in tens; nobody sells one. | Amazon | 1 | $6 |
| Resistor and capacitor assortment $5.69 for 600 1% metal-film resistors, plus $9.99 for a 480-piece ceramic capacitor kit (10 pF to 10 µF, Amazon B0D2GVNDHY). 1% metal-film matters for the instrumentation amplifier's balance. | Amazon | 1 | $16 |
| Sewing pins or fine steel wire for insect electrodes A pin in the cockroach leg, another as reference. Backyard Brains sells proper ones if you want them. | Any store | 1 | $2 |
| Small 8 Ω speaker Adafruit's breadboard-friendly 8 Ω 0.2 W part is $1.85. Amazon's six-packs are $5.99 if you are not ordering from Adafruit anyway. | Adafruit | 1 | $2 |
| Temperature-adjustable soldering iron kit with solder, stand, and flux $11.99 for the iron, five tips, solder, a stand, and flux, which is everything Phase 1 needs. Its temperature dial is open-loop and its tips wear fast; the Pinecil V2 at $25.99 from Pine64 holds temperature properly and will outlast your degree, and it needs a USB-C PD supply you may already own. | Amazon | 1 | $12 |
| TL072 dual op-amps, ×10 For filters, the DRL circuit, and the audio stage of the SpikerBox. A ten-pack costs the same as two singles. The OPA2134 is quieter if you want to hear the difference. | Amazon | 1 | $6 |
| Total (prices drift; treat as a ceiling) | $192 | ||
Tier 2: the real instrument, about $987 more
The fabricated ADS1299 board, a scope, a signal generator, and electrode-making supplies. Or the OpenBCI Ganglion as an alternative to building the board.
Tier 2 parts
| Part | Where | Qty | Approx. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3D printing access (campus makerspace) or a Bambu A1 mini Free on campus after the safety certification, which is the right answer for almost everyone. Buying your own is $299 and is worth it by Phase 2 only if you print weekly. | Marriott Library or Lassonde makerspace; Bambu Lab if buying | 1 | free |
| Conductive silicone or carbon-loaded filament for dry electrodes $29.99 per kilogram. Protopasta's conductive PLA is $49.99 and its resistivity is better characterized, which matters if you want to report impedance numbers. | Amazon | 1 | $30 |
| Eight reusable snap electrode pads and a fabric armband $7.99 for twenty reusable TENS pads with 3.5 mm snaps, plus elastic and hook-and-loop for the band. The reusable pads lose adhesion after a few dozen applications; disposable ECG electrodes give cleaner contact per session. | Amazon | 1 | $12 |
| Handheld oscilloscope with a built-in signal generator (FNIRSI DSO-510) $44.99 for 10 MHz, 48 MSa/s, and a DDS generator in one box, which replaces two purchases. 10 MHz is plenty for biopotentials and enough to eyeball SPI, but not enough for careful digital timing; the engineering building has real bench scopes for that. A Hantek 6022BE USB scope is $65.90 and a Rigol DHO800 is the one to want. | Amazon | 1 | $45 |
| OpenBCI Ganglion (4 channels), an alternative to building the ADS1299 board $624.99 and sold out as of this check, which is nearly three times what building the eight-channel board costs. It buys you a finished, documented instrument and a month of your life. The Cyton (8 channels) is $1,249 and also sold out; used ones appear on eBay. If you only want a board to reverse-engineer, the BioAmp EXG Pill is $34.49. | OpenBCI shop | 1 | $625 |
| Signal generator (cheap DDS module, or use the scope's built-in) Drives the phantom head dipoles at known amplitudes. Skip this if you bought the DSO-510, whose generator does the same job. | Amazon | 1 | $19 |
| Silver wire (0.5 mm, 99.99%) and household bleach for Ag/AgCl plating $15.75 for a metre, shipped free. Amazon's .999 fine silver is $22.99 for a foot. Do not substitute sterling; the copper in it corrodes. Chloriding in bleach or by electrolysis in saline turns bare silver into a proper Ag/AgCl electrode. | AliExpress, Amazon | 1 | $16 |
| Unflavored gelatin or agar, table salt, plastic bowl $14.17 for a pound of gelatin, which is about what a head-sized phantom takes, plus salt and a bowl. Saline concentration around 0.9% by weight matches tissue conductivity to within a factor you can calibrate. | Grocery store, Amazon | 1 | $16 |
| USB isolator (ADuM3160 based) Lets the board talk to a laptop on charger power without connecting the laptop's ground to you. It is full-speed only (12 Mbps), which is fine here. Adafruit's is $34.95 with better isolation ratings and documentation. Batteries are still simpler. | Amazon | 1 | $9 |
| Your ADS1299 board, fabricated and assembled by JLCPCB (5 boards, 2 assembled) The chip dominates. The eight-channel ADS1299IPAG is $69.82 each from TI in single quantity. JLCPCB's own charges are small (bare boards about $2, an $8.18 economic assembly setup, a $1.53 stencil, $0.0016 per joint); the rest is the other components and shipping. The four-channel ADS1299-4PAGR is $37.10 at LCSC and brings the whole order to about $150, and four channels cover every Phase 3 project. Order two assembled so one can die. | JLCPCB | 1 | $215 |
| Total (prices drift; treat as a ceiling) | $987 | ||
Tier 3: borrowed
Anything in a lab, the nanofab, or the machine shop. Phase 6 lives here. The way in is the research ladder.
Where the campus gives it to you free
The Marriott Library and Lassonde makerspaces have 3D printers, laser cutters, and electronics benches with scopes and soldering stations. The engineering building has real bench oscilloscopes. Do the certifications in the first weeks and a large part of Tier 2 becomes Tier 0.