Gesture and force sensing based on dielectric elastomers for intelligent gloves in the digital production

Due to recent progress in human-machine interaction the development of interfaces ensuring a safe collaboration between handling devices and workers is gaining in importance and impact to the industry field. For an adequate operation, combined sensing and actuation capabilities are sufficient for interaction units. Smart materials like dielectric elastomers (DEs) are predestinated for integrated multi-functional applications. DEs are lightweight, high energy density and highly stretchable transducers suitable for many different operation areas, like movement tracking, force sensing, haptic feedback and sound generation and can be used to develop highly integrated textile-based user interfaces. This paper shows first results on the development of a novel intelligent glove prototype based on DE elements. The main focus of this investigation lies on DE-based integrated joint angle and force measurement units as well on a cost-efficient and slim sensing electronic. By embedding the resulting system in an industry 4.0 environment, an adaptive assistance tool can be developed. The resulting system can be used to monitor the desired motion of a worker and to respond with a corresponding haptic feedback, which depends on the specific interaction task. This makes the resulting system a novel, portable assistant tool for industrial environments.