GoldFinger: wireless human–machine interface with dedicated software and biomechanical energy harvesting system

In the past, human-machine interfacing (HMI) motivated many studies to develop systems and devices that were able to transfer analog commands from the user’s body to machines. However, many design solutions are still affected by comfort and performance limitations due to wire communications, long calibration procedures, resistance to hand motions, and power supplies requiring cables or batteries. GoldFinger, the HMI glove introduced in this paper, has the potential to overcome some of these limitations thanks to the integration of advanced materials, miniaturization of components and electronics, and power generation through biomechanical energy harvesting. Hand motions are used to communicate with the machine via a LED tracking system. Then, information is digitalized with dedicated software that also provides the machine microcontroller programming in the C language. Additionally, the battery discharge time is reduced due to the power harvested from integrated piezoelectric transducers, which generate power from finger motions.