Two concepts are still being considered for the best was to construct the data glove. The ‘Soft Glove’ idea would start out with a base of a typical work glove, that would have sensors, likely force sensors, attached to the fingers. The data these sensors would record would be mapped onto angles at each of the hand’s joints, which would then be transmitted to the Robot. The chief advantage of the ‘Soft Glove’ idea is that we would have to do less fabricating, with the body of the glove simply being purchased.
The second concept is the ‘Hard Glove’ which would consist of a stiff, hinged metal or plastic contraption that would fit around each joint, with a linear displacement sensor affixed above the joint. When each finger moved, the linear displacement sensor would be pushed or pulled, and this measurement could be mapped onto the angle of the joint in the same way as above. The potential advantages of the ‘Hard Glove’ idea is that it could allow for much more precise control, and could be made adjustable to fit any user.
Preliminary CADD work has been done for an early ‘Hard Glove’ concept, and can be seen below:
an individual finger joint:
