Development of a Hybrid Myoelectric and Inclination Wireless Sensor for Application in Robotics and Physiotherapy

Abstract

Equipments used to capture sEMG signals are usually expensive and difficult to use in environments outside laboratories. This paper describes the development of a hybrid sensor capable of capturing myoelectric and inclination signals, provided for it with a pair of differential electrodes and a three-axis accelerometer as sensor devices. The information captured by the sensor is transmitted via Bluetooth communication, leaving the sensor free of wires and cables. The sensor has applications both in robotics as physiotherapy. In robotics it has been used as a standalone system for control of a robotic wheelchair for disabled people, through the user’s head movements, and also to control a small robot with gripper, to assist children with severe physical disabilities. In physiotherapy it has many applications where the collection of sEMG signals is required. In its final state, the sensor consists of a portable electronic device, wireless, small, lightweight, highly autonomous, with high calculation capacity and high data rate transmission. This allows its use outside laboratories, expanding the application area.