Design and fabrication of a system to measure grip force in fingers

Abstract

Finger grip strength plays a key role in hand ergonomics. The grip force of fingers can also define our overall health and muscular endurance. Modern ways to measure grip strength is electrically by using sensors. Force and Pressure sensors are the main and efficient sensors to measure the grip force in fingers. In this paper, Force Sensitive Resistor (FSR) called Flexi force sensors is used to measure finger grip force. The resistance in the sensor changes when pressure is applied on it. This change in resistance is used to measure finger grip force. A glove type device is developed with FSR’s placed on the fingertips of index finger and thumb finger. These sensors are interfaced with Arduino and connected to mobile phone via Bluetooth. Twenty subjects from the age group of 20 - 50 are taken to measure finger grip force. Finger grip force is measured by asking the subjects to hold an ATM card. This gives lower extremity of finger strength. This lower extremity of finger grip gives force required to hold a delicate object. These readings are helpful in developing robotic hands which are used in delicate and complex medical operations