From: geoffrey@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz (Geoff Thomas)
Subject: TECH: glove sensors (Re: APPS: PG for Bar use, ideas and questions!)
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 1993 14:01:16 +0000 (GMT)
Organization: University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand



In article <1vrc5jINN9g2@news.u.washington.edu>, cdshaw@cs.ualberta.ca
(Chris Shaw) writes:

|> nsmca@acad3.alaska.edu writes:
|> 
|> >Okay, quick question, what ways can be designed to keep the wear and
|> >tear off the power gloves? Fiber optics? Sensors piezo electrical??

I'm going to experiment with LEDs and some sort of varying reflected
light system:

(for each finger)
	Either a decreasing level of light:

	reflector or white surface
	mounted on top of glove

		 /| <---- LED ======= from computer
		/ | -----> Photodiode ======= to computer
	________|_|________
	\_______________+__
	finger		^
	 in glove	approx position of first joint


	- When the finger bends the amount of light returning to the
		photodiode will drop.

	Or an increasing level of light:
			approx position of first joint
	_____________________ 
	\_______________+__
	finger		-----> Photodiode ======= to computer
	 in glove	<---- LED ======= from computer

	- bottom of glove is painted/dyed/bleached/etc. a light
		colour.

	- When the finger bends the amount of light returning to the
		photodiode will increase.

Yes I know, this will only measure the first joint, but I think that
most applications aimed at Joe Bloggs (at least in a Pub) won't really
need super accuracy or multiple joint tracking. The system I'm working
on should be able to cope with it, since it reduces finger postures
down to BENT or FLAT anyway. But I do need an analogue scale, rather
than a straight on/off switch, as a large variety of hand sizes will
be encountered in the application, and a 5yr old's fist is a little
bit smaller than say a 200lb Sumo wrestler.

|> The optical fibres in the DataGlove wear out, too. Probably faster
|> than the PowerGlove mentioned by the NZ post.

Just as a matter of interest, what do you do with the DG after the
fibres wear out? I understood they were sewn into the glove, which
would make them difficult to access & replace...

Geoff Thomas			geoffrey@cosc.canterbury.ac.nz
Computer Science Dept.
University of Canterbury
Private Bag				+-------+
Christchurch				| Oook! |
New Zealand				+-------+