Session: SYMP 1-8: Wearables

Paper Number: 140240

140240 - 3d Printed Flexible Tactile Sensor for Rehabilitation 

Wearable devices that provide sensory feedback and function as sensors have applications in areas such as robotics, virtual reality, and rehabilitation. The progress and development of these devices has been supported by advancements in technologies such as soft actuators, flexible sensors and wireless acquisition devices. Some of the features desired for wearables are ergonomic design, low-cost, lightweight, and high accuracy. 3D printing allows for design of complex geometries, customization, and implementation of various materials at a low-cost, including in this work ultra flexible and flexible conductive materials. This study focuses on a glove prototype with 3D printed flexible sensors attached to the finger sections of the glove. The sensors were produced with Fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing using a Lulzbot Taz 6 3D printer.  The prototype takes advantage of resistance-based sensors made of a custom conductive, flexible 3D printed filament and the insulating effects of standard commercial thermoplastic polyurethane. Five of these sensors were printed and placed on the finger sections of the glove for reading finger movements as the fingers bend. The sensors were connected to a Wheatstone bridge circuit to monitor the changing resistance.  As the sensors on the glove bend, the resistance and in turn voltage values change proportionally to the deformation of the actuator. To test the functionality of the prototype, the wearer of the glove grasped several different objects in varying sizes. As pressure was applied by the wearer’s hands to the sensors on the glove, the voltage and resistance values responded and were measured using a digital multimeter. The rotation angle and radius of the actuator were measured using deformation tracking software. Five trials were performed for each object. The data from these tests was collected and analyzed.  There are multiple applications of the sensor technology. The first application of this technology is to help with rehabilitation efforts. These flexible sensors can be applied to multiple parts of the body and give real time data on a patient’s movement. This can be beneficial to patients who have lost their mobility. The data from these sensors can be used by medical professionals to assess the progress the patient is making in their mobility and to adjust their treatments. Another application of this research is in the virtual reality space to be used as virtual reality gloves. The sensor data can be used by virtual reality developers to progress the game to increase user precision as well as realism.    

Presenting Author: Brittany Newell Purdue University

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Brittany Newell is an associate professor at Purdue University in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute School of Engineering Technology. Brittany received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering from Purdue University. She then worked in industry from 2013-2015 before joining the Purdue faculty. Brittany completed her Ph.D. work in the field of electroactive polymers for industry applications. She is expanding upon this research to include manufacturing techniques along with development of dielectric electroactive polymer devices.

Authors:

David Moreno Rueda
Diana Narvaez
Evelyn Mccarthy
Liam Mccormack
Brittany Newell