A Multi-Modal Sensing Glove for Human Manual-Interaction Studies

Abstract

Abstract:We present an integrated sensing glove that combines two of the most visionary wearable sensing technologies to provide both hand posture sensing and tactile pressure sensing in a unique, lightweight, and stretchable device. Namely, hand posture reconstruction employs Knitted Piezoresistive Fabrics that allows us to measure bending. From only five of these sensors (one for each finger) the full hand pose of a 19 degrees of freedom (DOF) hand model is reconstructed leveraging optimal sensor placement and estimation techniques. To this end, we exploit a-priori information of synergistic coordination patterns in grasping tasks. Tactile sensing employs a piezoresistive fabric allowing us to measure normal forces in more than 50 taxels spread over the palmar surface of the glove. We describe both sensing technologies, report on the software integration of both modalities, and describe a preliminary evaluation experiment analyzing hand postures and force patterns during grasping. Results of the reconstruction are promising and encourage us to push further our approach with potential applications in neuroscience, virtual reality, robotics and tele-operation.

Simplifying Telerobotics: Wearability and Teleimpedance Improves Human-Robot Interactions in Teleoperation

“…3. This glove has also been integrated with a tactile sensing glove to provide a tool to retrieve both kinematic and force information of human hand in grasping tasks [26]. Textile goniometers consist sensors on the glove was optimal in a Bayesian sense such that it maximizes the information on the actual hand posture.…”

Recent Advances on Wearable Electronics and Embedded Computing Systems for Biomedical Applications

“…In the frame of wearable electronics and embedded computing systems for biomedical applications, this Special Issue of Electronics includes a total of 14 papers, including two review papers and twelve research articles [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The issue spans a wide range of topics, including smart sensing footwear systems, human-body hydration monitoring, textile-based ECG monitoring in human and horses, biotelemetry and telemedicine, support for surgical navigation, wearable autonomic nervous system activity monitoring, and hand posture and tactile pressure sensing [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…The issue spans a wide range of topics, including smart sensing footwear systems, human-body hydration monitoring, textile-based ECG monitoring in human and horses, biotelemetry and telemedicine, support for surgical navigation, wearable autonomic nervous system activity monitoring, and hand posture and tactile pressure sensing [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…The use of a mix of commercially available sensors and new custom-designed ones was also presented. Bianchi et al [4] propose an integrated sensing glove combining a low number of knitted piezoresistive fabrics to reconstruct both hand posture and tactile pressure sensing. To this end, a priori information of synergistic coordination patterns in grasping tasks was employed.…”

Self-Compensated Driving Circuit for Reducing Drift and Hysteresis in Force Sensing Resistors

“…FSRs can be fashioned into multiple shapes and dimensions to fulfill the requirements of a given final application [1][2][3]; this can be done by simply cutting the nanocomposite film after the production process is done, followed by electrode positioning and wiring to assemble the final force sensor [4]. The nanocomposite film is obtained by randomly dispersing conductive particles in an insulating polymer matrix [5][6][7].…”