smarthand

For these challenge we have developed and prototyped a glove that integrates different sensors to recognize some gesture, to control a generic application.

A 10-DOF IMU module measure all the movements of the hand in space, with a 3-axis accelerometer, a 3-axis gyroscope, a 3-axis magnetometer and a pressure+temperature sensor. Two flex sensors detect at the same time the movements of two fingers (thumb and forefinger).

An Arduino Nano V3 collects all the data (via I2C bus) and communicates them to the computer through a Bluetooth module.

All signals (in particular the 6 acceleration and rotation signals, plus the bending of the fingers) are processed to recognize the valid gestures and send commands to the application.

The possible gestures are moving to the right, left, up, down, forward, backward and rotations (left or right).

On the Earth we can use accelerometer data to detect also the rotation of the hand, measuring the inclination of the vector G, through its components on the 3 axes. But in space, in the absence of the G acceleration, this would not be possible. For this reason we use also a gyroscope, with a dedicated hardware, instead of exploiting a smartphone (much more expensive and less flexible).

In addition the two flex sensors on the fingers allow us to have a control that activates the movement only when necessary, in order not to unintentionally control the application just by waving your hand. The same sensors, properly combined, can also control the click, and drag.

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