Development of a glove-based optical fiber sensor system applied to the monitoring of hand motions

• Grant number: 12/11943-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Kenichi Suzuki
• Grantee: Eric Fujiwara
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica (FEM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The precise monitoring of the hand movements is necessary in the teleoperation of robotic manipulators for the exploration of harmful environments and medical operations, as well as in virtual reality applications and language sign interpretation. However, the currently available technologies, comprising external camera tracking, electromyography and glove-based sensors, present limitations regarding the cost, sensitivity and robustness. In this sense, this project proposes the development of a glove-based optical fiber sensor, in which the angular positions of joints are related to the light attenuation due to microbending effect. Firstly, the transducer parameters will be studied and optimized in order to improve the sensor response, and a software for the real-time optical signals acquisition and processing will be developed. Subsequently, a dynamic calibration routine is going to be designed based in intelligent algorithms for mapping the intensity values to the hand posture. Finally, the system will be applied on a virtual reality environment for reproducing the movements or interpretation of sign language. If succeeded, the project will provide a high sensitive, robust and low cost sensing solution of relevance for the optoeletronics, robotics and automation industries in Brazil, and also academic results with notability in terms of originality and interdisciplinarity.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

FUJIWARA, ERIC; FERREIRA, MURILO; DOS SANTOS, MARQUES; SUZUKI, CARLOS K. Flexible Optical Fiber Bending Transducer for Application in Glove-Based Sensors. IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL, v. 14, n. 10, p. 3631-3636, OCT 2014. Web of Science Citations: 17.