WiCon Robo Hand. Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, Texas A&M University at Qatar

Transcription

1 WiCon Robo Hand Team Members: Mouhyemen Khan Arian Yusuf Ahmed Ragheeb Nouran Mohamed Team Name: N-ARM Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, Texas A&M University at Qatar Submitted to Dr. Haitham Abu Rub Project Advisor: Dr. Beena Ahmed Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, Texas A&M University at Qatar

2 Abstract Automation is an ever growing trend in today s industry. By establishing a strong human-machine interaction, the human race can advance further in their journey of making lives easier. The main aim of our project is to design an intelligent data glove to control a wireless robotic hand. This data glove can be practically linked to any system to form a control unit that can be manipulated over a wide range. Practically a distance of 90 feet is viable for operation, but the team will demonstrate a much shorter distance of operation. The team will be designing an intelligent glove equipped with flexi bend sensors and gyroscopic sensors. The system that the glove will control will be an animatronic hand to display simple human hand mimicry, which is the second aspect of the design project. Essentially, the design is divided into two aspects; the intelligent data glove interface and the robotic hand, but the main purpose is to establish the link of control between them. The group will attempt to demonstrate a curl of the robotic hand s five fingers controlled by the data glove, by configuring the robotic hand to have 5 degrees of freedom. 2

3 Project Description The design concept consists of a data glove and a robotic hand. A basic schematic for the system is shown in Figure X. Figure 2: Basic schematic of the system (Note: The glove and robotic hand shown here are only for illustration purposes) The data glove is a wireless sensor device that is wearable by the human hand. It establishes the link with the machine and conveniently serves as the medium to control the robotic hand. It consists of 5 flex sensors running across each finger in order to read any change in pressure caused by the fingers. A belt will be attached to the glove that can be strapped around the user s forearm for convenience of usage. The flex sensors are designed to operate uni-directionally i.e. any flex caused on the sensor in one direction causes the resistance to increase. This change in resistance reports a voltage reading that can be taken in by the micro controller to compute calculations and execute essential operations. On the data glove s part, a wireless communication sensor will serve as the transmitter. Hence, all of the movements caused by the fingers will be sensed by the flex sensors, recorded by the microcontroller and transmitted by the communication sensor on to the robotic-end. The robotic hand is on the client s end and is designed to mimic the user s motions. It continuously carries out the required mimicry. Figure 2 below provides a graphical representation of our model. The robotic hand will be designed to match the human hand, albeit very simplified. The human hand consists of 24- DOF where 4-DOF are shared by each finger. 3 of those 4-DOF are for extension and flexion and 1 for abduction and adduction. The thumb being more complicated boasts of 5-DOF where 3 are for extension and flexion, 1 for abduction and adduction and the last DOF is for circumduction. Finally, the wrist consists 3

4 of 3-DOF that actuates the rotational and translational movement of the wrist. The robotic hand that we design will have 5-degrees of freedom (DOF), one for each finger and one for the thumb. This is being done to keep the project within the scope of simplicity and attainability. The data transmitted by the communication sensor from the data glove will be fed into the receiver channel of the robotic arm. The micro controller will carry out the necessary calculations for processing the motions done by the user s human hand. After the calculation phase, the servo motors on the robotic hand will replicate the movement. The robotic hand will be constructed only until the forearm and placed on a base plate with all of the fingers pointing upwards. The actuation on the robotic hand will be carried out by using strings. A thread of string will be wound between the phalanges of each robotic hand s fingers and connected to the head of the servo motors. The turning of the servo motors in one direction (for instance, clockwise) will cause the string to contract, thus pulling the finger to one direction. If the servo were to turn counter clockwise, this will allow the finger to go back to its original position. Figure 3 below depicts the rough schematics of the robotic hand s finger. Figure 3: Rough schematics for the robot's finger The data glove has unlimited potential applications. It can be configured to control any system based on what the user wants. The customer needs will be identified by making surveys and interviews with a few companies in the industry and governmental institutions to discover what applications are mostly needed by the data glove. This data will be used for personal reference and does not change the idea that a robotic hand will be used to display the concept of wireless data control of a system. However, such information is still valuable in determining what society as a whole requires, which could fuel further innovations and applications to configure the data glove. 4

5 Budget Table 1 below provides the cost breakdown for each of the separate modules required in constructing the robotic arm and fashioning the data glove. Feedback sensors are to be installed on the data glove. The input will be taken in by an Arduino Uno micro-controller and transferred via wireless communication sensor called Xbee. It will be transferred to the second Arduino Uno micro-controller which is responsible for controlling the peripheral operations of the robotic arm. Table 1: Cost breakdown Item name Price Quantity Price Data Glove - Arduino micro-controllers $ $ XBee Explorer USB $ $ XBee 1mW Trace Antenna Series 1 $ $ Flexi Sensors $ $129.5 Robotic Arm - Arduino micro-controllers $ $ XBee Explorer USB $ $ XBee 1mW Trace Antenna Series 1 $ $ Servo motors HS-645MG (Pack of 6) $ $ Servo Motors HS-625MG $ $95.85 Total $ The amount of items being ordered can serve in the construction of 2 pairs of data gloves and robotic hands. We will not be constructing two models, however, the spare parts will serve as backup in case of impairment or damage to any of the items. 5

6 Team-Work and Task Distribution Throughout the semester, the group will have pre-scheduled meetings that are conducted twice a week. Each meeting would be a follow up of the last meeting, where tasks should be submitted and discussed. In addition to the meetings, the group will be communicating via , phone and social media websites/services to discuss any topics that are unclear. Along with the group meetings, the group will be meeting once a week with the mentor for an hour to provide updates about the project and/or any assignments that are due. Table 2 Task Distribution (1-Primary Responsibility, 2-Partial Responsibility, 3-Not Responsible) Tasks Mouhyemen Khan Arian Yusuf Ahmed Ragheeb Nouran Mohamed Preparing Meeting Agenda Documenting Meeting Minutes Scheduling Meetings Website Design Updating Website Updating Calendar Preparing Team Agreement Developing Proposal Project Design Flow Chart Finalizing Budget Conducting Surveys Developing Ethnographic Video Bench Marking Constructing Robotic Arm Coding Testing De-bugging Presentation Preparation Concept Evaluation Semester Progress Report Peer Evaluation

7 Project Timeline Robotic Arm Project Task Division and Assignments Planning & Documentation 1. Team Agreement 2. Proposal 3. Surveys 4. Customer Needs 5. Ethnographic Video 6. Benchmarking 7. Functioning Model Design 8. Concept Evaluation 9. Semester Progress Report 10. Presentation 11. Peer Evaluation Project Design 12. Robotic Hand 13. Data Glove 14. Human Machine Interface Project Construction 15. Robotic Hand 16. Data Glove 17. Human Machine Interface Coding 18. Data Glove 19. Robotic Hand Testing Process 20. Data Glove 21. Robotic Hand 22. Human Machine Interface September October November December Legend: Pending Completion In Progress Completed 7

8 References Elu2-Hand. [Image]. Retrieved from DataGlove System. [Image]. Retrieved from 8