design and development of a data glove for the assistance of the physically 2

International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN

0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online) Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August (2013), © IAEME

36

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A DATA GLOVE FOR THE

ASSISTANCE OF THE PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED

Parth Ranjan Singh, PrathiShastry, Jagadish D. Kini, FarzadTaheri

Guided by T.G.Giri Kumar

M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Electrical & Electronics Engineering department,

Bangalore-560054

ABSTRACT

This project provides a mechanism for controlling wheelchair and home appliances for

physically disabled people by way of movement of fingers.

A person suffering from paralysis or any serious injury may not be able to move around and

accomplish simple tasks such as switching on/off tube-lights, fans etc. A helper maybe required to be

present with the patient at all times. Our project serves the purpose of making the patient self-

sufficient and devices an easy way for him to go about his work.

The device is a convenient, flexible and reliable mechanism to help the patient control a

wheelchair-motion. It also includes a mechanism to control various appliances.

A hand glove fitted with flex sensors is worn by the patient. Just by bending his fingers, he

can switch on/off appliances and also control his wheelchair movement. Also, the entire setup is

wireless and therefore gives the patient control over appliances in a 30m radius.

Keywords: Flex Sensor, X Bee, Wireless, Arduino, H-Bridge, motor control.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Goose’s story by Cari Best was a story that touched our heart, when we read it for the

first time as a kindergartener. The struggle for a physically challenged goose in the story mirrors the

scene around us where the disabled were incapable of performing their daily routine tasks that are

thought normal and easy to do by others.

The preexisting technologies are insufficient or too cumbersome for a challenged person to

operate easily. The voice recognizing control of wheel chair being the easiest to master but the cost

of it easily surpasses all its benefits. The other control mechanisms of the wheelchair being tongue

operated or joystick controller are too difficult to manage.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (IJECET)

ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print)

ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online)

Volume 4, Issue 4, July-August, 2013, pp. 36-41

© IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijecet.asp

Journal Impact Factor (2013): 5.8896 (Calculated by GISI)

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IJECET

© I A E M E



37

This made necessary of development of a control device which is easy to master, cheap and

portable. The paper introduces with construction of a mechanism using the bending of flex sensors to

control the wheel chair motion and which can be further added upon by adding modules like

emergency call system or appliance control wherever necessary.

2. THE BLOCK DIAGRAM

Fig 1: Block Diagram

3. COMPONENTS

� Flex sensors

It is a variable printed resistor on a thin flexible substrate. When the substrate is bent,

the sensor produces a resistance output correlated to the bend radius—the smaller the radius,

the higher the resistance value.

Fig 2: Flex Sensor



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� ARDUINO

Arduino is a popular open-source single-boar microcontroller, descendant of the

open-source Wiring platform, designed to make the process of using electronics in

multidisciplinary projects more accessible. The hardware consists of a simple open hardware

design for the Arduino board with an Atmel AVR processor and on-board input/output

support. The software consists of a standard programming language compiler and the boot

loader that runs on the board in Fig 3.

Arduino hardware is programmed using a Wiring-based language (syntax and

libraries), similar to C++ with some simplifications and modifications, and a Processing-

based integrated development environment.

Fig 3 :Arduino board

� XBee/ZigBee

XBee/ZigBee is a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols. It

uses small, low-power digital radios based on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area

networks. It is simpler, less expensive and covers more area than other WPANs, such as

Bluetooth. It targets radio-frequency (RF) applications requiring a low data rate, long battery

life, and secure networking. It has a defined rate of 250 kbps best suited for a single signal

transmission from a sensor or input device. AXbee pro module is shown in Fig 4.

Fig 4: XBee Pro



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� H-BRIDGE

An h-bridge is an electronic circuit that enables a voltage to be applied across a load

in either direction. These circuits are often used in robotics and other applications to allow

DC motors to run forwards and backwards [2]. H bridges are available as integrated circuits,

or can be built from discrete components. An H bridge is built with four switches (solid-state

or mechanical). When the switches S1 and S4 (according to the Fig 4) are closed (and S2 and

S3 are open) a positive voltage will be applied across the motor. By opening S1 and S4

switches and closing S2 and S3 switches, this voltage is reversed, allowing reverse operation

of the motor.

Using the nomenclature above, the switches S1 and S2 should never be closed at the

same time, as this would cause a short circuit on the input voltage source. The same applies

to the switches S3 and S4. This condition is known as shoot-through.

Fig 5. H Bridge

Fig 6 Fig 7

The H-bridge arrangement is generally used to reverse the polarity of the motor, but

can also be used to 'brake' the motor, where the motor comes to a sudden stop, as the motor's

terminals are shorted, or to let the motor 'free run' to a stop, as the motor is effectively

disconnected from the circuit.

The following table summarizes operation, with S1-S4 corresponding to the two

operating modes can be represented as in Fig 6 switches S2 and S3 are open and hence the

motor rotates left. While in Figure 7 when switches S1 and S4 are open the motor rotates in

the opposite direction.

Fig 5 shows the actual picture of H–bridge. We have used the L293D chip in the H-

bridge supposed to drive the motor



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Fig 8: H-bridge Driver Chip L293D

� Relays

A relay is a switch which is operated by electricity .It is usually electromagnetic

device. When a small trigger voltage is applied to a relay, power supply to the device is

switched on. When the trigger voltage is removed, the power supply for the device is also cut

off. Some relays can be triggered directly by a microcontroller output.

4. ADVANTAGES

• No need for a person to remain with the patient at all times

• Can also be used for patients paralyzed neck down (who can’t even use their fingers),

by simply replacing the hand glove with a head mask

• Additional functions like sounding an alarm etc. can be added easily.

• ZigBee covers more distance compared to transmission using IR rays (which is used

in remote controls)

• Easy to use

• Cost effective

5. CONCLUSION

Our prototype adheres to all afore mentioned specifications. Test results indicate that the

sensor is not too sensitive to the input which means that the probability of the user unintentionally

triggering the device is very low.

6. REFERENCES

[1] Towards a Body Sensor Network - based gesture interface for intelligent home applications

dated AUG 2009 V-risJaijongrak ; Chantasuban, S. ; Thiemjarus, S. ; School of Information,

Computer & Communication Technolgy (ICT), Thammasat Univ., PathumThani, Thailand,

ICCAS-SICE, 2009



41

[2] Design and development of a hand-glove controlled wheel chair dated May 2011 Akmeliawati,

R.; Tis, F.S.B.; Wani, U.J.; Dept. of Mechatronics Eng., Int. Islamic Univ. Malaysia, Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia,Mechatronics (ICOM), 2011

[3] Arduino.cc

[4] Information on flex sensors from

http://www.imagesco.com/sensors/flex-sensor&http://devices.sapp.org/component/flex/

[5] Nazrul H. Adnan, Khairunizam Wan, Shariman Ab and Juliana A. Abu Bakar, “Principal

Component Analysis for the Classification of Fingers Movement Data Using Dataglove

“Glovemap””, International journal of Computer Engineering & Technology (IJCET),

Volume 4, Issue 2, 2013, pp. 79 - 93, ISSN Print: 0976 – 6367, ISSN Online: 0976 – 6375.

[6] Neeraj Tiwari, D. Bhagwan Das and Prabal Pratap Singh, “Design, Development and Hardware

Realization of X-BEE based Single Axis Solar Tracking System”, International Journal of

Electrical Engineering & Technology (IJEET), Volume 3, Issue 3, 2012, pp. 8 - 20,

ISSN Print : 0976-6545, ISSN Online: 0976-6553.

[7] Vinesh Kapadia and Dr. Hina Chandwani, “Comparison of Modulation Techniques for

Cascaded H-Bridge Type Multilevel Current Source Inverter”, International Journal of

Advanced Research in Engineering & Technology (IJARET), Volume 4, Issue 2, 2013,

pp. 181 - 190, ISSN Print: 0976-6480, ISSN Online: 0976-6499.

7. AUTHORS

[1]Parth Ranjan Singh, B.E.,

[2] PrathiShastry, B.E.,

[3] Jagadish D Kini, B.E.,

[4] FarzadTaheri, B.E.,

design and development of a data glove for the assistance of the physically 2

Technology

patient control

control device

appliance control

motor control

control mechanisms

control of wheel chair

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