1. Project Name : WIRELESS-CONTROLLED ANIMATRONIC HAND
Students Name : Ahmad Moharib, Mohammad Arar
Razan Hijazeen, Alia Ghunaim, Saja Abu Naseer,
Supervisor Name: Dr. Sulieman BaniHani
[1] Arduino Uno microcontroller:
<http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardUno>.
[2] Animatronics:
<https://littlebits.cc/projects/animatronic-hand>.
[3] Similar structure:
<http://www.sparkfun.com/news/580>.
[4] Spectra Symbol flex sensors datasheet:
<https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Sensors/Flex.pdf >.
<https://www.imagesco.com/sensors/flex-sensor.html>.
[5] Servo motors:
<https://www.jameco.com/jameco/workshop/howitworks/how-
servo-motors-work.html>.
<https://arduino.cc/en/reference/servo>.
[6] XBee Communication Module:
<https://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoXbeeShield>.
Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which
seem animate rather than robotic. Animatronic creations include
animals, plants and even mythical creatures. Animatronics was
developed by Walt Disney in the early sixties. Essentially, an
animatronic puppet is a figure that is animated by means of
electromechanical devices. Animatronics is the cross between the
animation and the electronics. Basically, Animatronics is the
mechanized puppet. It can be remotely controlled or pre-
programmed. The abbreviated term originally coined by the Walt
Disney as Audio.
Animatronics is a subset of anthropomorphic robots which are
designed drawing inspiration from nature. The humanoid robots will
be equipped with anthropomorphic multi-fingered hands very much
like the human hand. We call this a humanoid hand robot.
Humanoid hand robots will eventually supplant human labour in the
execution of intricate and dangerous tasks in areas such as
manufacturing, space, the seabed, and so on. Further, the
anthropomorphic hand will be provided as a prosthetic application
for handicapped individuals[2].
Many multi-fingered robot hands have been developed. These robot
hands are driven by actuators that are located in a place remote
from the robot hand frame and connected by tendon cables.
The elasticity of the tendon cable causes inaccurate joint angle
control, and the long wiring of tendon cables may obstruct the robot
motion when the hand is attached to the tip of the robot arm.
Moreover, these hands have been problematic commercial products,
particularly in terms of maintenance, due to their mechanical
complexity.
A mechanical arm is robotic, usually programmable, with similar
functions to a human arm. The links of such a manipulator are
connected by joints allowing either rotational motion or
translational (linear) displacement. The links of the manipulator can
be considered to form a kinematic chain. The business end of the
kinematic chain of the manipulator is called the end effecter and it is
analogous to the human hand. The end effecter can be designed to
perform any desired task such as welding, gripping, spinning etc.,
depending on the application. However, these hands present a
problem in that their movement is unlike that of the human hand
because the number of fingers and the number of joints in the
fingers are insufficient. The animatronics hand has a thumb and four
fingers[2].
In this project we are working on an animatronic hand and a wireless
control unit for it as a regular glove that can be worn in human hand
with flex sensors on each finger. The hand will make the same
movement of fingers as the operator moves his fingers. All of that is
controlled using an Arduino microcontroller[1].
In this project, we have create a simple mechanical design, the
electrical piping tubes will be used to make a prototype of the
human hand, they will be implemented in a certain way to make the
most flexible mechanical design for the hand. Each tube (finger) will
have a returning spring on its back that will return the finger to its
original position when the tension force is removed[3].
Inside each finger there will be a string that will pull the top of the
finger so that the whole finger will be bended when the string is
pulled.
What are the flex sensors?
Flex sensors are sensors that change in resistance depending on
the amount of bend on the sensor.
They convert the change in bend to electrical resistance change,
the more the bend, the more resistance value.
They are usually in the form of a thin strip, 1-5 inch long that
varies in resistance[4].
They can be made uni-directional or by-directional
They are available in three resistance changes:
-Low resistance range, nominal resistance between 1KΩ-20KΩ.
-Medium resistance range, nominal resistance between 20KΩ -50KΩ.
-High resistance range, nominal resistance between 50KΩ-200KΩ.
Servos are controlled by sending an electrical pulse of variable
width, or pulse width modulation (PWM), through the control wire.
There is a minimum pulse, a maximum pulse, and a repetition rate.
Servo motors can usually only turn 90 degrees in either direction for
a total of 180 degree movement. The motor's neutral position is
defined as the position where the servo has the same amount of
potential rotation in the both the clockwise or counter-clockwise
direction[5].
The PWM sent to the motor determines
position of the shaft, and based on the
duration of the pulse sent via the control
wire; the rotor will turn to the desired
position. The servo motor expects to
see a pulse every 20 milliseconds (ms)
and the length of the pulse will determine how far the motor
turns[5].
Connection wirelessly between the control glove and the mechanical
design of animatronic hand for elaboration was realized using XBee
transceiver and XBee shield, which support the ZigBee protocol for
Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) development[6].
Upon conductions of the experiment, using the variables finger,
angle, sensor value and position, the following results were
produced. During the first test we measured the angle relationship
between human finger and the corresponding finger on the
animatronic hand. we found that the index finger, middle finger, ring
finger, and pinky all had about the same sensor value from the flex
sensors. The thumb on the other hand was limited in movement
compared to the other fingers, and therefore the sensor data was in
a smaller range. then we came up with three positions to test, fully
extended, half extended, and unextended. From here we created a
video of all fingers at these different positions. then we analyzed the
videos through the use of editing software and found the angle of
each finger at each position.
Then we conducted the same procedure for the animatronic hand,
finding the angle of each finger at each position in the process. we
found that at the fully extended position the relationship between
human finger and the corresponding finger on the animatronic hand
was about a 20° difference. At half extended the relationship was
the closest at about a 10° difference. At unextended we noticed the
most difference with human fingers bending almost 30° more than
the animatronic hand. The thumb was the most consistent finger
with only about 10° difference on all three tests. Overall, the
comparison of my hand compared to the animatronic hand was
greater than we thought. The position with the greatest difference
was fully flexed. What all this means is that the animatronic hand
has a relationship with my hand.
The Problem of Flex Sensors Non-identity. Solution consists in
calibrating the device in extreme points; open hand (0 degrees),
clenched hand (180 degrees), and then calculating the linear
function slope coefficient of every sensor. Eventually the sensor's
angle of flex is computed using the altered linear function. The
calibration consists in pushing a button while fingers are in position
described on a serial monitor screen, which significantly improves
the quality of projecting the fingers motion.
The chart above shows the differences between particular sensors.
For proper calculation of the rotation angle a calibration consisting
of measuring extreme points of the characteristics is required[4].
![Project Name : WIRELESS-CONTROLLED ANIMATRONIC HAND
Students Name : Ahmad Moharib, Mohammad Arar
Razan Hijazeen, Alia Ghunaim, Saja Abu Naseer,
Supervisor Name: Dr. Sulieman BaniHani
[1] Arduino Uno microcontroller:
<http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardUno>.
[2] Animatronics:
<https://littlebits.cc/projects/animatronic-hand>.
[3] Similar structure:
<http://www.sparkfun.com/news/580>.
[4] Spectra Symbol flex sensors datasheet:
<https://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Sensors/Flex.pdf >.
<https://www.imagesco.com/sensors/flex-sensor.html>.
[5] Servo motors:
<https://www.jameco.com/jameco/workshop/howitworks/how-
servo-motors-work.html>.
<https://arduino.cc/en/reference/servo>.
[6] XBee Communication Module:
<https://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoXbeeShield>.
Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which
seem animate rather than robotic. Animatronic creations include
animals, plants and even mythical creatures. Animatronics was
developed by Walt Disney in the early sixties. Essentially, an
animatronic puppet is a figure that is animated by means of
electromechanical devices. Animatronics is the cross between the
animation and the electronics. Basically, Animatronics is the
mechanized puppet. It can be remotely controlled or pre-
programmed. The abbreviated term originally coined by the Walt
Disney as Audio.
Animatronics is a subset of anthropomorphic robots which are
designed drawing inspiration from nature. The humanoid robots will
be equipped with anthropomorphic multi-fingered hands very much
like the human hand. We call this a humanoid hand robot.
Humanoid hand robots will eventually supplant human labour in the
execution of intricate and dangerous tasks in areas such as
manufacturing, space, the seabed, and so on. Further, the
anthropomorphic hand will be provided as a prosthetic application
for handicapped individuals[2].
Many multi-fingered robot hands have been developed. These robot
hands are driven by actuators that are located in a place remote
from the robot hand frame and connected by tendon cables.
The elasticity of the tendon cable causes inaccurate joint angle
control, and the long wiring of tendon cables may obstruct the robot
motion when the hand is attached to the tip of the robot arm.
Moreover, these hands have been problematic commercial products,
particularly in terms of maintenance, due to their mechanical
complexity.
A mechanical arm is robotic, usually programmable, with similar
functions to a human arm. The links of such a manipulator are
connected by joints allowing either rotational motion or
translational (linear) displacement. The links of the manipulator can
be considered to form a kinematic chain. The business end of the
kinematic chain of the manipulator is called the end effecter and it is
analogous to the human hand. The end effecter can be designed to
perform any desired task such as welding, gripping, spinning etc.,
depending on the application. However, these hands present a
problem in that their movement is unlike that of the human hand
because the number of fingers and the number of joints in the
fingers are insufficient. The animatronics hand has a thumb and four
fingers[2].
In this project we are working on an animatronic hand and a wireless
control unit for it as a regular glove that can be worn in human hand
with flex sensors on each finger. The hand will make the same
movement of fingers as the operator moves his fingers. All of that is
controlled using an Arduino microcontroller[1].
In this project, we have create a simple mechanical design, the
electrical piping tubes will be used to make a prototype of the
human hand, they will be implemented in a certain way to make the
most flexible mechanical design for the hand. Each tube (finger) will
have a returning spring on its back that will return the finger to its
original position when the tension force is removed[3].
Inside each finger there will be a string that will pull the top of the
finger so that the whole finger will be bended when the string is
pulled.
What are the flex sensors?
Flex sensors are sensors that change in resistance depending on
the amount of bend on the sensor.
They convert the change in bend to electrical resistance change,
the more the bend, the more resistance value.
They are usually in the form of a thin strip, 1-5 inch long that
varies in resistance[4].
They can be made uni-directional or by-directional
They are available in three resistance changes:
-Low resistance range, nominal resistance between 1KΩ-20KΩ.
-Medium resistance range, nominal resistance between 20KΩ -50KΩ.
-High resistance range, nominal resistance between 50KΩ-200KΩ.
Servos are controlled by sending an electrical pulse of variable
width, or pulse width modulation (PWM), through the control wire.
There is a minimum pulse, a maximum pulse, and a repetition rate.
Servo motors can usually only turn 90 degrees in either direction for
a total of 180 degree movement. The motor's neutral position is
defined as the position where the servo has the same amount of
potential rotation in the both the clockwise or counter-clockwise
direction[5].
The PWM sent to the motor determines
position of the shaft, and based on the
duration of the pulse sent via the control
wire; the rotor will turn to the desired
position. The servo motor expects to
see a pulse every 20 milliseconds (ms)
and the length of the pulse will determine how far the motor
turns[5].
Connection wirelessly between the control glove and the mechanical
design of animatronic hand for elaboration was realized using XBee
transceiver and XBee shield, which support the ZigBee protocol for
Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) development[6].
Upon conductions of the experiment, using the variables finger,
angle, sensor value and position, the following results were
produced. During the first test we measured the angle relationship
between human finger and the corresponding finger on the
animatronic hand. we found that the index finger, middle finger, ring
finger, and pinky all had about the same sensor value from the flex
sensors. The thumb on the other hand was limited in movement
compared to the other fingers, and therefore the sensor data was in
a smaller range. then we came up with three positions to test, fully
extended, half extended, and unextended. From here we created a
video of all fingers at these different positions. then we analyzed the
videos through the use of editing software and found the angle of
each finger at each position.
Then we conducted the same procedure for the animatronic hand,
finding the angle of each finger at each position in the process. we
found that at the fully extended position the relationship between
human finger and the corresponding finger on the animatronic hand
was about a 20° difference. At half extended the relationship was
the closest at about a 10° difference. At unextended we noticed the
most difference with human fingers bending almost 30° more than
the animatronic hand. The thumb was the most consistent finger
with only about 10° difference on all three tests. Overall, the
comparison of my hand compared to the animatronic hand was
greater than we thought. The position with the greatest difference
was fully flexed. What all this means is that the animatronic hand
has a relationship with my hand.
The Problem of Flex Sensors Non-identity. Solution consists in
calibrating the device in extreme points; open hand (0 degrees),
clenched hand (180 degrees), and then calculating the linear
function slope coefficient of every sensor. Eventually the sensor's
angle of flex is computed using the altered linear function. The
calibration consists in pushing a button while fingers are in position
described on a serial monitor screen, which significantly improves
the quality of projecting the fingers motion.
The chart above shows the differences between particular sensors.
For proper calculation of the rotation angle a calibration consisting
of measuring extreme points of the characteristics is required[4].](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/71a4c63b-49e0-4a6b-9441-cd94e11caed0-150529042305-lva1-app6891/85/wirelesscontrolled-animatronic-hand-1-320.jpg)
