• CapSense Glove

    Ian James • 03/08/2019 at 20:19 • 0 comments

    Adafruit CapTouch Breakout Board:

    As an alternative to using messy analog resistors (and since I'm placing my fingers on the bare skin of my forearm) I decided that utilizing capacitive touch sensing would be a good alternative. Initially I bought into using Adafruit's 5x cap touch board [AT42QT1070] ,but it was so sensitive that it registered positives by touching through a wire. The board only outputs digital logic and I could find no mention of any sensitivity control in the data sheet. 

    CapSense Library:

    Image from https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_CapacitiveSensor.html

    An solid library that gives plenty of feedback, is adjustable, and is accurate. The wiring is also dead simple, making this an immediate improvement over using Adafruit's cap board.

    The finger attachment for use with the CapSense library. They're made of double-sided Velcro with a copper tape stapled to the front to which a wire is attached.

    CapTap:

    Replacing the module from the Light Glove, this version is applies the four finger sensors to made tones corresponding with a rising pattern of finger presses:

    I gave a small speaker a piece of velcro so that it could sit where the RBG sensor did previously. With an jumper cable and a resistor between three empty pins (on the right side), it's possible to boot the glove up on different scales.

    The next goal is to replace type of device being used to shift fret/position (RBG sensor previously).

  • First attempt - Light Glove

    Ian James • 03/08/2019 at 20:00 • 0 comments

    Using FSRs on the fingers and an Adafruit color sensor on the thumb alongside a 'color strip' to strap around the arm. Each section on the color strip acts as a fret that changes the notes produced when an FSR is pressed.

    Shortcomings:
    -FRSs don't work very well against human skin (imagine trying to activate a pushbutton against a soft pillow). The FSRs are analog and it's hard to get a feel for the threshold before the trigger. Furthermore, FSRs are bulky and were a nightmare to mount on the tips of fingers.

    -The color sensor operates far too slow and far from precise. It's hardly ergonomic to mount on the thumb.

    -In an attempt to replace the FSRs with photoresistors. While being more comfortable to wear, the analog nature of the components made them inconsistent and unintuitive to use.