Wearable Haptic Glove

for Sensory Augmentation

Summary

  • Built a haptic glove that assists elderly people with sensory impairment in their hands in a team of 4

  • Led a 15-week design sprint with a $400 budget to select and integrate sensors, actuators, circuits

  • Designed 4 iterations of circuits, sourced components, and produced custom PCBs shipped by an overseas manufacturer

Mission

During my undergraduate capstone project, I led a team of four to conceptualize and prototype a wearable haptic glove, targeting the billion-dollar home-based rehabilitation market.

The device helps patients who suffer a poor sense of touch due to injuries and diseases and translates force felt on their fingertips into tapping on their biceps through a system of sensors, actuators, and circuits.

Background

My Role

Although circuit design is a new domain for me, I took ownership and went through 4 iterations, eventually creating cost-effective custom PCBs at $2/unit from an international supplier.

I also contributed to actuator selection and sensor selection by conducting trade studies among different components.

Results

Despite a budget of $400 and a tight 15-week deadline, we successfully delivered a proof-of-concept prototype that resulted in 2 conference presentations and an upcoming publication by AIAA.

Huge thanks to my teammates Helen Situ, Monica Wang, Adeeb Momen, and our advisor Professor Akshay Potnuru.