Building Machines that

Emulate Humans
Lesson plan and more resources are
available at: aka.ms/hackingstem
Hacking STEM
A free resource for teachers, delivering inquiry and project-based lessons
that complement current STEM curriculum. In this lesson we explore the
phenomenon of human body mechanics and discover how it’s influencing
robot design.

Contents
03 Activity Overview

04 Sensorized Glove Instructions Lesson

14 Connecting the Arduino, Part 1 Notebooks
17 Sensorized Glove Templates Contains materials lists, lesson
plans and activities to support
19 Robotic Hand Instructions teaching this project, mapped
to the NGSS and ISTE standards.
27 Connecting the Arduino, Part 2
Go to aka.ms/hackingstem
31 Robotic Hand Templates for these and other activity
notebooks.
33 Excel Workbook User Guide

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 ♥
Activity Overview Hack our projects
This activity integrates life science with robotics, while incorporating crucial 21st century
We love innovation and
technical skills like data science; software, mechanical and electrical engineering, for an
encourage you to hack
authentic learning experience. Emphasis is placed on the importance of combining science
our activities and make
and technology to reflect the mechanics of the human body. 
them your own.

Sensorized Glove
Students build a sensor that measures the flexion and extension of a finger to learn about
tracking the movement of a human hand. Next, they assemble a cardboard glove and
attach multiple sensors to enable visualizing how bones work within the skeletal system. 🚀
Steps for success
Robotic Hand
For those of who tend
Students engineer a robotic hand from materials including cardboard, straws, string, and to use instructions as
servo motors to be controlled by their sensorized glove to complete a set of tasks. loose guidelines, we’ve
indicated integral steps
with the A-Ok hand
Data Visualization: symbol. Read and follow
these steps precisely to
Students run trials with the Sensorized Glove and Robotic Hand to generate ideas to increase your likelihood
improve the range of tasks it can accomplish. The data is visualized for analysis using a of success.
customized Excel workbook.

💫
Substituting everyday
objects

Similar items can be

substituted for most
materials according to
availability.


21st century technical skills explored in this activity include:
Sourcing specialized
materials

You can find an online

shopping list for this
entire lesson at:

aka.ms/
robotichandshoppinglist

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PAR T O NE

Sensorized Glove
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Things you’ll need
Get links to all materials online in this Excel spreadsheet: aka.ms/robotichandshoppinglist
Materials
1 piece of kraft heavy card stock or a flattened cereal box
1 hand template, chosen based on your hand size (pg. 17)
1 mini bread board (40 holes)
3 medium rubber bands
10 strips of Velostat plastic, 1 cm x 8 cm
20 strips of copper tape, 7 cm long
10 pieces of 30 cm solid core wire

Toolkit
• scissors
• scotch tape
• wire strippers
• single hole punch This symbol indicates steps that
• utility knife require extra care and precision.

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Make a jig for sensor building
1 2

A simple U-shaped guide makes sensor building easy. Cut a Wrap the resulting tabs with tape, this will provide you with a
piece of cardboard to roughly 20 cm x 16 cm. Next, cut out a base with a non-stick surface to build sensor halves.
notch about 3.5 cm deep and 11 cm long.

Make a “sensor sandwich”

Sensor Layer Overview
11. clear tape
10. copper tape
9. wire
8. copper tape
7. Velostat strip
6. Velostat strip
5. copper tape
4. wire
3. copper tape
2. clear tape

1. finger splint

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 1 2

Select and print a template based on your hand size (pg. 17 Cut out the template and trace your pattern onto kraft
& 18). paper or the inside of the flattened cereal box.

3 4

Cut out the traced cardboard templates and use a hole Label your cut out finger splints so that you do not get the
punch to cut out the holes for your wires. Use a utility knife finger sizes mixed up.
to cut the tabs in the wrist cuff.

5 6

Place a piece of Scotch tape, sticky side down, over the entire Remove the backing from one strip of copper tape, and
length of the Index finger splint to act as a base layer. adhere it to the splint.

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 7 8

Strip 2 cm of the plastic coating from the end of the 30 cm Bend the exposed end of the wire.
wire, exposing the solid core inside.

9 10

Place the wire loop at the end of the end of the copper tape. Peel backing from a second copper tape strip and attach
directly over the first strip and the wire loop.

11 12

Press firmly, making sure the wire loop is securely placed. Use the U-shaped guide to build the second half of the
sensor. Place a piece of Scotch tape between the two tabs.

Avoid getting bends or folds in the copper tape because it could prevent your sensor from working.

-8-
 13 14

Flip the guide over so that the tape is sticky side up, place Strip 2 cm of the plastic coating of a second 30 cm wire.
copper tape sticky side up, remembering to remove the
backing.

15 16

Bend the exposed end of the wire into a loop. Place the wire on top of the copper tape.

16 17

Place another piece of copper tape over the loop, sticky Prepare two strips of Velostat to lay over your finger splint.
side down, pressing firmly to secure a good electrical
connection.

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 18 19

Place both Velostat strips directly over the base layer of Carefully remove the sensor half from the U-shaped guide.
your sensor.

20 21

Place the sensor half on the splint, sticky side down, Now tape the sensor in place on the finger splint, making
encasing the Velostat and completing the sandwich. sure to not wrinkle or bend the copper tape.

Make sure the Velostat layer separates the copper strips so they are not touching.

22 23

Snip the tape carefully at the joints so it will wrap around Fold the excess tape over the back side of the splint.
the back of the splint with ease.

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 24 25

Further secure the sensor onto the splint in a couple of spots, Wrap the tape around the back side and close at those
horizontally. spots.

26
Your sensor sandwich is now
complete.

11. clear tape

10. copper tape
9. wire
8. copper tape
7. Velostat strip
6. Velostat strip
5. copper tape
4. wire
3. copper tape
2. clear tape

1. finger splint

Repeat these steps until you have built a sensor for each finger.

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Assemble the glove
1 2

Place your finger on top of the splint, with the sensor Fold and tape the flaps around your finger, keeping them
side out. loose so that your finger can move freely.

3 4

Use tape as needed to fully close the finger flaps. Repeat for the remaining fingers and thumb.

5 6

left hand thumb

Attach the mini breadboard with the side up that lines Thread each of the fingers through the metacarpal plate.
up with your thumb for the hand you’re going to wear
the glove on.

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 7 8

Loop rubber bands through the bottom left and right holes Slip the cuff through the bottom loops, then thread the
of the plate. thumb sensor wires through the thumb holes in the wrist
cuff.

Strip 1 cm of plastic coating from the ends of the wires. The diagram above shows where each finger sensor should be
plugged into the breadboard, with two slots for each finger/thumb. It does not matter which of the two wire ends go into
which, as long as it goes into one of the two allotted.

10 11

Use the tabs you cut with the X-Acto earlier to help Pull the tabs that best fits your wrist size through the two
secure the wrist cuff. Double a rubber band and slide it hole punches on the Top Flap, then slide the rubber band
over the cuff. over the flap and under the tabs to secure the cuff.

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 12 13

Slide fingers into the sensor splints and adjust as needed to Congratulations! You have completed your Sensorized
finalize the fit for your hand. Glove and are now ready to connect your microcontroller!

Connecting the Arduino, Part 1

Things you’ll need

1 Arduino UNO
13 solderless breadboard jumper wires This project requires a PC running
5 100 Ohm Resistors Windows 10.
1 large breadboard (5 cm x 3 cm)
1 micro USB Cable
1 length of solid core wire, roughly 2 cm long

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 1 2

Connect your Arduino to your computer with the micro USB Go to https://aka.ms/biomechanicsarduinocode and down-
cord. Next, you will need to install the Arduino IDE which load the flash code.
you can access through the Technical Requirement link on
the Hand lesson page at aka.ms/hackingSTEM or directly
through the Microsoft Store. Follow the prompts to success-
fully complete installation.

3 4

Locate and open your downloaded file to launch the Next, select: Tools > Port > COM4 (Arduino UNO) noting
Arduino application. that your particular com port may be different than COM4.

5 6

Then select Tools > Board: “Arduino/Genuino Uno” > Click on the circular right arrow button to upload.
Arduino UNO.

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 7 Take your short length of wire, strip at both 8 Connect 6 solderless wires between the
ends, and insert as a jumper wire on your glove mini-breadboard on your glove and the large
mini-breadboard, as shown below. breadboard. The color of the wires can be helpful
but does not impact the functionality.

9 Place the 5 Ohm Resistors on the breadboard as 10 Connect the other 7 solderless wires between the
shown above. You can trim the ends if you want Arduino UNO and the large breadboard.
them to sit closer to the board.

10

Congratulations!
You are now ready to move onto the Robotic Hand activity (pg. 19) or plug into the custom Excel Workbook (pg. 33) and visualize
data!
 Bottom flap
Print at 100%
Index

This side up for

Thumb making a left
hand. Reverse this
part to use for the
right hand.

ires
Sensor

Sensor w
Wrap this cuff around your
wrist to size. Then bend up
the tabs and insert them into
the holes on the top flap.
Sensor wires

Thumb
small/
Sensor
Sensor wires

medium

use the right hand.

Ring

hand. Reverse to
Middle

This side up for

Size to fit finger slightly

making a left
loose to allow for
movement.

Sensor wires
Sensor
Pinkie

Sensor wires
Sensor

Sensor
Sensor wires
Index

Top flap

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 Bottom flap
Index

Size to fit finger slightly loose

to allow for movemen t.

This side up for

Thumb making a left hand.
Reverse this part to
use for the right
hand.

ires
Sensor

Sensor w
Wrap this cuff around your
wrist to size. Then bend up
the tabs and insert them into
the holes on the top flap.
Sensor wires

Print at 100%

Thumb
large
Sensor
Sensor wires

Size to fit finger slightly

loose to allow for
movement.

use the right hand.

Ring

hand. Reverse to
Middle

This side up for

Sensor wires
making a left
Sensor
Pinkie

Sensor wires
Sensor

Sensor
Sensor wires
Index

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PAR T T WO

Robotic Hand

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Things you’ll need
 Get links to all materials online in this Excel spreadsheet: aka.ms/robotichandshoppinglist
Materials
10 milkshake straws (extras included in case of breakage)
1 length or spool of braided dacron kite line, or fishing line
1 wide rubber band (size #16)
Several pieces of felt
5 Servo motors
1 straw and felt pattern (pg. 26)
2 pieces of Cardboard (22 cm x 28 cm)

Toolkit
• scissors
• Scotch tape
• hot glue gun + glue sticks
• Sharpie marker

This symbol indicates steps that

require extra care and precision.

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Construct fingers
1 2

Align straw to the template on pg. 26. Using the spacing guide, replicate the three triangles on
your straw with a marker on both sides.

3 4

Carefully cut out a notch at the marks using the inside of Cut a piece of line 90 cm in length. Drop it through the
the scissor blades to prevent the straw from snapping. straw, leaving about 7 cm hanging out of the top (the distal
end).

Cut the notch with the middle of the scissor blades, because cutting with the tips can snap the straw.

5 6

Wind the string around the top section twice. Tape the thread to the straw.

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 7 8

Check finger function by pulling the straw. The digits bend Apply the bone labels.
progressively and in order, from top to bottom.

9 10

Cut out the finger bones from the felt, using the pattern on Hot glue the felt bones to the fingers, except for the meta-
pg. 26 as a guide. carpal, which will be applied a bit later.

11 12

Cut the rubber band into small pieces and glue them oppo- Use the template to cut out the the fingers and base of the
site the bones, to act as finger pads and provide grip. Robotic Hand on pg. 31 & 32.

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 13 14

Glue the metacarpal bone to the bottom of a cardboard Flip over the cardboard piece and glue the straw finger to
finger pieces the other side.

15 16

The rectangular cutout at the bottom of the cardboard will Insert the servo motor into the straw finger as show, with
house the servo. the bulk of the motor sitting on the side where the felt
bones are attached.

17 18

Secure the servo to the cardboard with hot glue. Attach your servo arm to the motor and rotate it to the
right as far as it will go. Then remove the servo arm and
replace it so that it is vertical and that the longer arm is
pointing towards the straw.

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 19 20

Thread your string or line through the top hole of the Pull the string taught so that the distal bone is just flexed.
arm.

21 22

Wrap the straw around the cross bar in a figure 8 several Repeat this process until you have completed four fingers.
times to keep the string taught. Tape or glue the string and
trim as needed. Set aside.

23 24

Next make a thumb by cutting a straw finger, then remov- Attach finger bone labels as shown.
ing the bottom section which would act as the metacarpal
on the finger.

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 25 26

Cut out felt bones and attach to the thumb. Follow the Gather the remaining cardboard pieces you cut to build the
steps to complete the thumb with finger pads and the palm.
cardboard, as done in the finger instructions. Set aside.

27 28

Take the smallest of the 3 pieces, and glue upright to the Locate the slit in the palm and slide that piece over the base
center of the base, with the middle slit up. support.

28 29

Insert each of the fingers in the palm, fitting the Servos into Secure with glue.
the punch outs.
 Make the triangular notches progressively wider and shorter to enable proper bending.
3 cm 8 cm 15 cm
.75 cm

.5 cm
1 cm

.75 cm 1 cm 1.5 cm
Distal Middle Proximal Metacarpal

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Print at 100%
Connecting to the Arduino, Part 2

Things you’ll need

Materials
16 solderless breadboard jumper wires
1 length of solid core wire, roughly 20 cm long
1 fifteen pin header strip
1 modified 5V power supply (See following page for mod in-
structions)
1 paper clip

Toolkit
• wire cutters
• pliers
• red and black electrical tape

This symbol indicates steps that

require extra care and precision.

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Modify the power supply
1 2

Using wire cutters, cut the connector from the end of the Strip off the outside insulation as needed. Separate the
power supply. negative and positive wires apart. Remove about 2 cm of
insulation from the ends of those wires.

3 4

Straighten the paper clip and cut it into two 5 cm long Line up one piece of the paper clip with one of the wire
pieces. ends and wrap the wire around the end, as shown in the
photo above.

5 6

Using pliers, bend the paper clip over the wrapped wire. Wrap black electrical tape around the end of the unmarked
This prevents the wire from slipping off the paper clip. black negative wire (as opposed to the red or white-dashed
positive wire) ensuring that the end of the paper clip can be
inserted into the breadboard. Repeat the previous 3 steps
with the positive wire, using red tape.

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Complete your breadboarding
1 2

Insert 10 jumper wires into the breadboard as shown in the Cut your header strip to 15 pins. The Servo motors will be
diagram below. plugged into this strip. Place on the board according to the
diagram below.

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 3 4

Attach the Servo motor wires into the header strip, in the Place the additional wires so that they connect to every
same order as the fingers exist on the hand, until they are third hole and line up with the first wire of every servo
all plugged in. The colors of the Servo wires should repeat (each servo has 3 wires). Connect these wires to the Ardui-
in order, as is shown here in the order: orange, red, brown no according to the diagram below.
and again; orange, red, brown.

5 Connect your modified 5V power supply at the

GND +5V location on the breadboard.

Congratulations!
You are now ready to plug your project in, connect to the custom Excel workbook, and operate your full Sensorized Glove
and Robotic Hand. See page 32 to make sure your ready to go with required technical requirements, then you can move
through to the Excel Workbook section and view your data in Excel.

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-31-
 Print at 100%

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Get ready to visualize data
To complete the full project, make sure you meet these technical requirements:

• PC running Windows 10, and Excel 2016 (Desktop)

• Project Cordoba Add-In: Modernize your existing copy of Microsoft Excel 2016 with a free add-in to support real-time
data streaming from your projects available at: aka.ms/getaccess
• Customized Excel Workbook available at: aka.ms/biomechanicsworkbook

Excel workbook basics

Hand Visualization

Get started by selecting Left or Right for your gloved hand. As you move your
fingers, you should see the movement approximated on the plot.

Phalanyx Flexion

Details on incoming data are provided in a corresponding table, beginning with

the Phalanx Flexion. 100% represents a Full Flexion. For example, a closed fist
with all fingers fully flexed would be represented by all five fingers having 100%
flexion. Alternatively a fully open hand with all fingers fully extended would be
represented by all five fingers having 0% flexion .

In real-time, the tops of each phalanx bone in the Hand Visualization are
reflected and approximated in the XY coordinates portion of the table.

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Rock, Paper, Scissors Extension
With your glove connected to the Project Cordoba add-in, you can play Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) with Excel.

Game basics

The sensorized glove you have created and connected to the excel worksheet can be found on the left side of the
worksheet while Excel’s hand gestures are represented on the right. An RPS match will consist of 5 rounds. In each
round you will see the message sequence “Ready”, “Set”, “GO!”. When “GO!” appears, throw your RPS gesture.

RPS game history

The rounds will be shown below the hand visualization while the match number can be found in the between the
two hand visualizations (Note: if your gesture cannot be determined, the round will end as a tie). The history of the
gestures thrown in the current match’s rounds can been seen below the main hand diagram areas. After 5 rounds,
the winner of the match will be the player (you or Excel) with more round wins. Details on prior matches are also
available at the bottom of the worksheet.

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