DEVELOPMENT OF WEARABLE HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACES WITH FUSION OF MULTI-MODAL SENSING AND HAPTIC FEEDBACK TECHNIQUES

Abstract

Migrating from “sensing” to “smart perception”, the advancements in wearable sensor and feedback technologies facilitate the multi-modal and multi-dimensional human machine interaction system for various applications. In this thesis, firstly, a cotton sock with conductive polymer coating is fabricated for energy harvesting and sensing diversified physiological signals by triboelectric and piezoelectric mechanisms. Secondly, a triboelectric bi-directional sensor is proposed as a universal and cost-effective solution to a customized exoskeleton for quantitative motion detection of upper limbs. Additionally, an exoskeleton based haptic-feedback smart glove is also developed with triboelectric sensors, and piezoelectric feedback units. Next, a modular soft glove with multi-modal augmented sensing and feedback functions is realized by a single design of functional unit. Overall, with the aid of machine learning technique, this thesis presents a thorough research on the solutions of wearable human machine interfaces range from upper limb to foot, to achieve an intelligent whole-body sensor network.