MANIpulate to communicate

MANIpulate to communicate:A cheap ludic-educational kit with 3D printing and Arduino, as a learning support of finger spelling for deaf , deafblind and hearing children.

Elena DallAntonia

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MANIpulate to communicate kit:Robotic hand controlled by Arduino26 printed hands of the LIS alphabetPrinted base for reading hands

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The purposeDesign and creation of a low cost game kit, which can be used as a learning support for LIS sign language for deaf, deafblind children or adults who want to learn. MANIpulate to communicate can be used by anyone, it is a fun and exciting way to learn and improve the LIS

We could support this arduous teaching in a versatile and economical way:open source - available, editable and ready to use for allcheap - using technologies like 3D printing and Arduino

This project focuses on the LIS alphabet (used for spelling) LIS: Lingua Italiana dei Segni = Italian Sign Language

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Why use the kit? (the opinions of experts)Support for learning the LIS alphabet and finger spelling:deaf children, deaf-blind, and deaf adults;Teaching support for educators Inclusive use for deaf children in the classroom (social and communicative engagement):gameproject to be created in classteaching of LIS with other studentsit creates curiosity and stimulates to stay together Use for deafblind children (unlike the deaf, they need touch): tactile pregrafism Use in memory and orthographic function for development of skills of correct writing and decoding LIS / LIS-Italian / Italian-LIS (visual memory given by the game)Use for non-disabled children: improved motor skills in young children

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Technologies usedSOFTWAREAutodesk Maya: hands modelingSketchUp: 3D modeling for robotic hand partsInkscape: 2D modeling for robotic handCura and MakerBot Desktop: slicing

HARDWARE AND PRINTERPrusa i3 Hephestos: 26 hands in PLAMakerbot Dual: robotic hand in ABS (hand model from ex Parloma project, now Looqui http://looquilabs.com/)Arduino Mega: robotic hand control2D Laser Cutter: robotic hand case

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The robotic handControlled by 10 servo motors and Arduino Mega:5 for every finger1 for index finger side1 for middle finger side1 for thumb finger side 2 for wrist (rotation/ up and down)

Cost: ~ 150 euro for servo motors ~ 60 euro for various material

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The 26 handsModeled with Autodesk MayaUse Paint Skin Weight Tool to deform better the mesh;Ability to quickly move the phalanges;Base modeled with SketchUp;Conversion and correction in a 3D printer friendly version (Maya is a software for rendering, NOT for 3D printing!)

Printed with a Prusa i3 Hephestos Cura for slicing;Parameters

Cost for every hand: ~ 2euro (70-100 g PLA)~ 6-10 print hours (17x6x9 cm)

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How can hands and robotic hand communicate?Under the 26 hands there are five magnets positioned with different polarity;In the base there are five relay reed connected via cable to Arduino;

Arduino reads the magnets as a switch and it can recognizes every hands!We use a 5-bit binary encoding it means 32 representable numbers (0 to 31 in binary 5-bit) so, we can identify 31 different hands, but we only need 26 combinations for the project ;-)

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The kit gamesThree sketches for the robotic hand:

1. DEMO: this sketch reproduces a demo of the LIS's letters in sequence;

2. SIMON VISUAL GAME: a sort of visual and tactile Simon as a memory training, a problem for deaf and deafblind children:the robotic hand shows a sequence of random letters;the child has to reproduce correctly the sequences by entering the proper hands in the base;therobotic hand is able to read the hands and it can verify that the sequencereproduced is correct: the sequence will be incremented by a letter;otherwise it will return the game at the beginning.

3. LEARN FINGER SPELLING: the robotic hand reproduces in sequence proper names (geographical or persons name, such as Laura and Italy) or not known names and foreign words that can not be communicated by LIS (eg FabLab or Display) for show how to use the finger spelling. The child will have to copy the shownwordby the robotic hand, placing the 3D hands in the corresponding base.

The great thing of the project? Build your robotic hand and recreate the game that most prefer!

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Visit the website for see all videos and photos

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Stay tuned!Follow updates and download the material here:

http://manipolarepercomunicare.blogspot.it/

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Elena DallAntonia

University of Udinedallantonia_elena@yahoo.it

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