Data glove with a force sensor

Abstract

This paper presents a data glove equipped with a force sensor. The circuits and the construction are also described. The glove is selected to be a rubber coated cotton glove. The sensors are firmly attached to the rubber coated glove using cyanoacrylic glue. The force sensor is made of a steel plate substrate were the commercial strain gauges are attached. The plate is attached on the thumb. The strain gauges bridge is powered by a digital current source. A digital sine is produced by a microcontroller and a DAC with current output. At the peak the microcontroller produces a digital output signal. It is used by the data acquisition system. The force sensor presents a linear response and a resolution of 0.38 N and a sensitivity of 0.05 V/N. The combination can be used in robotics, telecheric applications, biomechanics and virtual reality applications.