Final Prototype (Break)through

With the 10 week prototyping period drawing to a close, the Orthoglove is finally looking like what we had dreamed about back in week 1. We had many breakthroughs and successes but also one heartbreak with this project.

The good news first:

This past week, we managed to learn enough Arduino programming to write a successful code that incorporated two FSRs (Figure 11):

Figure 11: Twin FSR control with each turning the servo in a different direction.

Shortly after, we wrote an algorithm to control the glove's grasping motion. Simply put, the algorithm begins to close the hand once a knuckle-mounted FSR is activated. The hand will continue to close until the thumb FSR is activated (i.e. when the object being grasped comes into contact with the patient's hand). Then, the hand will open once the thumb FSR's pressure drops under a certain threshold (i.e. patient attempting to release object). This algorithm is illustrated below (Figure 12): 

Figure 12: The hand control algorithm.

Once that major hurdle was passed, we constructed the final mechanical prototype of the glove. This version used a much neater system of fishing line and leather straps to guide all the lines on the hand. A custom servo mount was also built and the glove was ready to go (Figure 13):

Figure 13: Labeled photo of the final Orthoglove prototype.

Then, we decided to give it a shot and strap on the glove. To our delight, the glove closed properly as our test subject began closing her hand. Once the glove closed fully, the servo stopped as the thumb came into contact with the index finger. With a slight release in pressure of the thumb, the Orthoglove's servo buzzed, opening the hand completely. For the next few minutes, we tested the glove by picking up various objects. Although the control was slightly awkward and stiff, the glove nonetheless accomplished our goal.

Now for the bad news:

As we were enjoying the Orthoglove, we failed to notice that the knuckle FSR was badly attached to the glove. Every time the glove extended our fingers, the FSR's tails were flexed. In the middle of picking up a water bottle, the glove suddenly stopped. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the knuckle FSR's electrical trace had torn in half. 

Unfortunately, we were unable to procure another FSR in time for our presentation, but we are very proud of all our accomplishments with this project. In the future, we hope that we can continue this project and run actual trials with stroke patients.