Magnetic Array Assisted Triboelectric Nanogenerator Sensor for Real-Time Gesture Interaction

Highlights By counting the positive/negative pulses in unit time to sense the degree, speed, and direction of finger motion in real-time. The magnetic array assisted sliding structure translates sliding motion into contact-separation thus improves the durability and low-speed signal amplitude. The magnetic track constrains the sliding direction that greatly improves the stability. In human-machine interaction, robotic hands are useful in many scenarios. To operate robotic hands via gestures instead of handles will greatly improve the convenience and intuition of human-machine interaction. Here, we present a magnetic array assisted sliding triboelectric sensor for achieving a real-time gesture interaction between a human hand and robotic hand. With a finger’s traction movement of flexion or extension, the sensor can induce positive/negative pulse signals. Through counting the pulses in unit time, the degree, speed, and direction of finger motion can be judged in real-time. The magnetic array plays an important role in generating the quantifiable pulses. The designed two parts of magnetic array can transform sliding motion into contact-separation and constrain the sliding pathway, respectively, thus improve the durability, low speed signal amplitude, and stability of the system. This direct quantization approach and optimization of wearable gesture sensor provide a new strategy for achieving a natural, intuitive, and real-time human-robotic interaction.