A Soft Sensor-Based Three-Dimensional (3-D) Finger Motion Measurement System

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 17; no. 2; p. 420
• Main Authors: Park, Wookeun, Ro, Kyongkwan, Kim, Suin, Bae, Joonbum
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 22.02.2017; MDPI
• Subjects: Abduction; Algorithms; Biomechanical Phenomena; Carpometacarpal Joints; Elasticity; Finger Joint; finger joint modeling; Finger jointing; finger motion measurement; Fingers; Humans; Microchannels; Motion capture; Motion perception; Neck; Range of Motion, Articular; Sensors; soft sensor; Three dimensional motion; Thumb; wearable sensor; Weight reduction; finger motion measurement; soft sensor; finger joint modeling; wearable sensor
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s17020420

In this study, a soft sensor-based three-dimensional (3-D) finger motion measurement system is proposed. The sensors, made of the soft material Ecoflex, comprise embedded microchannels filled with a conductive liquid metal (EGaln). The superior elasticity, light weight, and sensitivity of soft sensors allows them to be embedded in environments in which conventional sensors cannot. Complicated finger joints, such as the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint of the thumb are modeled to specify the location of the sensors. Algorithms to decouple the signals from soft sensors are proposed to extract the pure flexion, extension, abduction, and adduction joint angles. The performance of the proposed system and algorithms are verified by comparison with a camera-based motion capture system.