[Project] Smart Gloves

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Introduction

"Smart Gloves" was our project for the NTU Electrical Engineering Makerthon MakeNTU 2018 at the end of March 2018.

Smart Gloves are designed to replace keyboards and mice, becoming the next generation of human-computer interface devices. They allow users to control all aspects of life, such as smart home appliances, as game controllers, playing virtual instruments, etc.

Technically, the gloves are equipped with 2 MPU6050 6-axis accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure hand posture, and 4 capacitive touch switches for customized input. They use Linkit7697 to collect sensor data and send it back to the cloud. On the Microsoft Azure cloud, gesture commands are computed (currently using Python to run the SVM (Support Vector Machine) algorithm to match the current gesture commands with training data), then sent back to the controlled device (like a smart bulb).

This project was a finalist for the Best Tech Award at NTU Electrical Engineering Makerthon.

Team members: Qi-Sheng Chen, Shu-Ming Zhang, Ying-Xiang Zhang, Yu-Kai Wang

Demo Video

DEMO Presentation

Smart Gloves Results

Smart Gloves photo (palm side), fingertips equipped with 4 capacitive touch switches: upload successful

Smart Gloves photo (back of the hand), the index fingertip and arm equipped with 2 MPU6050 6-axis accelerometers and gyroscopes, using Linkit7697 as the control board: upload successful

Sensor data visualization (created with Processing), real-time display of MPU6050 raw data, calculated posture, and touch switch status: upload successful

Detailed Explanation

Application Scenarios

  • Occupational therapy aids
  • Smart home control
  • Game controllers
  • Playing air instruments
  • Human-computer interface operation
  • ...

System Architecture

Smart Gloves system architecture diagram: upload successful

Code

Code (Github): ChiShengChen/2018makeNTU_meowmeow

Includes:

  • Arduino code for testing various sensors
  • Arduino code for the evolving smart gloves
  • Processing integration, data visualization code
  • Python Sci-kit Learn SVM code
  • Development code: mouse control, cloud data collection, gesture command computation

Conclusion

We're proud to have made this smart gloves, and we're excited to see how it can be used in the future!

We will continue to improve the smart gloves, and our goal is to use it to play the game of eating chicken 🐔

If you have any thoughts on this project, or would like a more detailed tutorial, feel free to leave a comment below~