Muscle Movement Tracking Using Nanocomposite Based Pressure Sensor

Nowadays, demands for flexible and wearable electronic devices are increasing due to their facile interaction with the human body. In this context, a nanocomposite based pressure sensor was developed for health monitoring applications including fingers motion detection and medical investigations. These sensors are fabricated using the carbon nanotubes (CNT) as they exhibit a high electrical and mechanical properties. Under pressure, the variation of the sensor's capacitance and resistance were detected based on the change of the conductive network formed by CNT/Polymer interactions. In term of resistance variation, a measurement circuit was proposed using the voltage divider method and an ATmega2560 board for data processing. Several tests were carried out to investigate the sensor response. In this concept, a Matlab based fitting algorithm was designed for calibration and measurement of the nanocomposite based pressure sensor. Furthermore, a data acquisition circuit was developed to receive processing signals of the sensor's responses and control the robotic arm via real-time Bluetooth communication. In addition, a web page interface was integrated using wireless communication for sensor monitoring and visualizing the pressure response.