Inspiration
The interface between humans and machines has become more and more important in recent times. Current technologies may be adequate but are far from perfect. The modern keyboard and mouse can be at best, clumsy and at worst, an RSI-inducing scourge. A gesture based control system would be easier to learn, more expressive and more natural.
What it does
This system uses a finger-mounted accelerometer to measure the movement of the hand and translate it to cursor movement.
How we built it
The sensor assembly consists of a 3-axis digital accelerometer mounted on the finger, connected to an Arduino microcontroller with a base shield attached. The Arduino is likewise, connected to a computer whose cursor is controlled. The microcontroller takes care of interpreting the user's hand acceleration into motion data, which it sends to the computer. The computer then uses this data to move the cursor.
Challenges we ran into
The accelerometer values possessed a high amount of noise, making it difficult to measure meaningful values. Even after smoothing, the values had to be tuned extensively to create a system that is easy to use.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
In order to clean the sensor values, we implemented a digital low-pass filter which effectively smoothed out the accelerometer readings.
What we learned
Sensors require extensive calibration to be effective.
What's next for AcceloMouse
The plan is to take this technology and integrate it with smart watches, phones, or virtual reality devices as standalone wearable tech.
Built With
- arudino
- java