dr-strange-glove

[dr-strange-glove]

Equipment

I've provided links to the places I bought these items - if you intend to follow along, these may be useful, but not mandatory.

Raspberry Pi Pico W (no headers) - Essential for the project, this will be the brains. I chose the wifi-enabled version (W) because it'll be easier to trial code scripts.

Velostat - Piezoresistive, flexible, conductive material - Commonly used for inexpensive flex sensors - Electrical resistance changes under pressure or when flexed - Sometimes known as Linqstat

MPU-6050 gyroscope and accelerometer - Six-axis motion tracking (everything moving freely in 3D space has six degrees of freedom - three translations, and three rotations) - Cheap, low power, and definitely works with Raspberry Pi Pico (see Instructables)

Assorted wires

Soldering iron

[dr-strange-glove]

Inspiration moodboard

Repository of any sources of inspiration that may be useful later

Dataglove example (Biomedical Engineering and Biocybernetics Team, Poznan University of Technology, 2018)

Using an MPU6050 six-axis sensor with a Raspberry Pi Pico (Instructables, date unknown)

Getting started with Raspberry Pi Pico (Raspberry Pi himself)

Beginner's soldering guide (might be necessary; it's been a while)

[dr-strange-glove]

Project overview

Background

I've made this Tumblr blog to document my progress, thoughts, and ideas regarding an electronics project I'm working on. Normally I would keep this in private notes but some people expressed interest in keeping up-to-date with the project, so I figured a blog wouldn't go amiss.

It should be noted that I have a background (and foreground) in academia, but a disdain for so-called "proper academic writing". This may lead to some tonal whiplash - but hopefully will be interesting to read.

Goal

My goal for this project is easily stated: recreate a dataglove (such as one might see in advanced VR setups) using easily accessible (and affordable) components.

Actually doing this, however...... Well, I don't know how complicated it will be. It should be a fun ride though.

Motivation

My motivation, as for many great inventions (see: dishwashers, webcams, and the wheel), is laziness. In many cases, "laziness" is just another way of saying "efficiency". I cannot claim this, because my motivation is to be able to control my laptop (connected to a projector) from the other side of the room without having to get up.

"What about wireless keyboards?" I hear you ask. "They're easily accessible (and quite affordable)." And you are correct. In fact, I have several already. But, to paraphrase 35th US president John F Kennedy, "sometimes you gotta do a more difficult thing just because you can".

Next: some inspiration, and more detailed plan.