The project was funded using two Innovation Vouchers supplemented by direct funding from the Company. A proof of concept prototype was developed to process the signals from bend sensors fitted into the fingers of a glove and to transmit the corresponding data in real time. There are five sensors used in each glove, one for each finger. The sensors consist of a coated substrate that changes in electrical conductivity as they are bent. The wrist control unit, developed by WiSAR, was designed to gather the sensor data and to stream the readings every 25 milliseconds. Firmware for the client device was developed to receive the sensor data and display it on a computer using a serial terminal program. In the first iteration of the firmware an off the shelf USB-BLE dongle was utilised as the client device, a second iteration enabled streaming directly to a mobile phone or any Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) client. The first prototype was delivered to the client for testing.
Subsequently, a second innovation voucher was used to further develop the initial prototype with the objective to reduce the overall dimensions of the control unit PCB and to enable production at a contract manufacturer. A 50% size reduction was achieved by replacing some of the main components on the first prototype with smaller footprint components and by utilising a multilayer PCB. The PCB board was designed to hold all components, excluding the bend sensors, and a batch professionally manufactured. Finally, a 3D printed case was designed and printed by WiSAR to house the prototypes. The housing contains slots for the switch, USB socket, bend sensor plug and LEDs.
The outcome from the work carried out by WiSAR was the deployment of working prototypes which enabled ActionSense to perform field trials and gather real time measurements from arthritis patients.
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