Project on Wireless Animatronic Hand Controller

Animatronics is a multi-disciplinary field which integrates anatomy, robots, mechatronics, and puppetry resulting in lifelike animation. It involves the use of mechatronics to create machines which seem animate rather than robotic. This project depicts a microcontroller based robotic hand controlled by hand gesture. The project was implemented using control glove, which has flex sensors mounted on it, servo motors, Bluetooth module and Arduino boards. The following figure shows the basic block diagram of the project methodology and the input-output circuit used.

Introduction

The user wears a glove with flex sensor mounted on it. The flex sensors measure the bending in the finger by the change in resistance. As the bending angle increases, the resistance increases and this variable resistance is converted into voltage by a voltage divider circuit and given to ADC for digital conversion in Arduino.

The Arduino reads the change in voltage when the sensors are bent and sends it wirelessly using Bluetooth modules to the other Arduino connected to servos, which triggers the servos to move a proportional amount. The wireless connection between the control glove and the mechanical design of animatronic hand was realized using HC05 Bluetooth modules. The Bluetooth modules are configured as master and slave using AT Commands to establish the wireless connection. Bluetooth uses Pico net protocol for communication. The servos are connected to the respective fingers of the Animatronic hand by threads. Thus the fingers of the Animatronic hand move in proportional amount as of the control glove.

Key features of the project

The goal of the project is to design a useful and fully functional real-world system that efficiently translates the hand gesture into the movement of animatronic hand. The wireless feature of the system allows the user to operate the system from a distance and efficiently use it in scenarios where human interaction is needed or where there are restrictions or a hazard to a human hand, like in military for bomb diffusion or chemical industry for safety point of view to human hand. The risk to human life can be avoided by a great extend as it does not require direct involvement of human being in dangerous environment. This hand can also be used in robots that help deaf and dumb in communicating with sign languages.

This prototype can further be advanced in medical field for physically challenged patients. The project enables the circuituser to operate the animatronic hand from a distance wirelessly. The wireless connection between the control glove and the mechanical design of animatronic hand was realized using HC05 Bluetooth modules. HC-05 module is an easy to use Bluetooth SPP (Serial Port Protocol) module, designed for transparent wireless serial connection setup.

Result and their engineering significance

This project aims at designing a microcontroller based robotic hand controlled by hand gesture. This project deals with controlling a robotic hand wirelessly. With the control glove the user can operate the animatronic hand, which is capable of moving at the required degrees of freedom, from a distance wirelessly. The project was implemented using control glove, which has flex sensors mounted on it, servo motors, Bluetooth module and Arduino boards.

The Arduino reads the change in voltage when the sensors are bent and sends it wirelessly using Bluetooth modules to other Arduino connected to servos, which triggers the servos to move a proportional amount. The wireless connection between the control glove and the mechanical design of animatronic hand was realized using HC05 Bluetooth modules. HC-05 module is an easy to use Bluetooth SPP (Serial Port Protocol) module, designed for transparent wireless serial connection setup. The Animatronic Hand can be implemented in all the sectors where human interaction is needed or where there are restrictions or a hazard to a human hand, like handling of the explosive objects, chemical industry, etc.

Conclusion Remarks

This project presents a wireless animatronic hand which is implemented by using a wireless technology. The Animatronic Hand, analyses the movements of a human hand, and synchronously controls a robotic hand. The work was successfully tested and was found to operate in a hassle free manner. The problems faced during the execution were rectified and was made sure to not repeat under any conditions. During testing each module, a certain amount of problems were faced that included erratic behavior of the servo motor that resulted from intermittent changes in the voltage.

Also, due to higher sensitivity of the flex sensor, the digital count value of the analog to digital converter turned out to be inconsistent and varying rapidly. The high sensitivity of flex sensors also resulted in the unstable functioning of servo motors. The problems faced were corrected and the module was hence found to be operating without any error. The system allows the users to operate the animatronic hand from a distance wirelessly. It can be widely used where there are restrictions or a hazard to a human hand.

Future efforts will be made to make this hand movable (from one place to another). This prototype can further be advanced in medical field for physically challenged patients. It is basically a futuristic project which will be used to make Humanoid (Human-like robots).