In 2017, we worked on a school project that took an existing RC controlled car, which we had removed the RC controller, and replaced this with our own hand(glove) controller.
For the car controller, we put in an Arduino Bluno Nano based device that had Bluetooth functionalities. We took another Arduino Bluno Nano and added a gyro component. We attached this device to a glove. We then translated the hand movements and transmitted this via Bluetooth to the car as control signals.
This project was our equivalent to the final submission for our Embedded Systems elective that year.
Challenges
- Figuring out how to hijack the controls for the main motor and the servo motor used for turning
- We had to research how communication via Bluetooth worked.
- Originally we used a flex sensor attached to the glove but after prolonged use, it snapped in half
- Encoding and decoding gyro readings from an Arduino in order transfer more data faster
- Translating received Bluetooth commands to PWM motor signals
- Learning to solder
- All the finger burns
Manila Mini Maker Faire
In the summer, we were invited to join the First Manila Mini Maker Faire. This was the first time we presented the Glove Car to the public. There were a lot of people interested in our project and wanted to see a demo. We showed the car working so many times that the car broke down before the end of the show. We also could not do demos when our battery ran out and we had to sit there charging the car.
Lesson learned: Build things to last and bring spare portable power banks
National Science And Technology Week
A month later, we were asked to present during the National Science and Technology Week Celebration at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Only two of the four were able to attend this event so I needed to work a lot harder. Aside from that, we had to present for 6 whole days and on the last day and we had to rehearse for a wedding we were going to play . We were joined by a few teacher chaperones and a few other groups from the older batch presenting their papers for Research class.
A typical day of presenting then would last from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. We would present to people from all walks of life. They would range from students and people who happened to be shopping at the nearby Mall of Asia to news representatives and even the DOST Secretary, Fortunato Dela Pena, himself. After presenting, we would look for a place to eat dinner or if we were too exhausted (which was most days) that day we would just order food from the comfort of our hotel rooms. Then finally, we would all go to sleep early to do it all again the next day.
On the last few days of the event, our project started gaining more and more traction as we were starting to get contacted by some news representatives tasked to cover the event.
We were first interviewed by DZRH Radio on the fifth day. My groupmate and I were extremely nervous during this interview because we never expected for our project to be highlighted nationwide but all in all, I believe we were able to successfully convey the of essence our project because at that point I think we’ve done it over 300 times.
Right after the interview, we were asked by representatives of GMA and ABS-CBN to email them details and a short description of our project so they can prepare for interviews on the very last day. We emailed them that night and we were set to interview Chris Tiu for GMA’s iBilib and Kuya Kim for ABS-CBN’s Matanglawin.
That night felt very surreal because what we thought was just a toy to present to our adviser for our final grade was going to be on national television for everyone to see. We notified our other groupmates, practiced our presentation and went to sleep early that night to prepare for the next day.
The Big Interviews
Finally, the last day came. We didn’t want to do live demos that day as we were afraid that we were somehow going to break it and not have enough time to fix it before our two big interviews.
Murphy’s Law states that “things will go wrong in any situation if you give them the chance.” I guess this saying perfectly describes what happened that morning because as we were practicing for the presentation just moments before he was about to arrive we seemed to have shorted the the main glove arduino. Because of this, we had to reschedule our interview some other time at FEU. Attached below are the original taeser video posted on Matanglawin’s Facebook Page and the link to the full interview and presentation.
https://www.facebook.com/MatanglawinTV/videos/1648697891830344/
Cool glove-controlled car invention by Philippine Science High School students ? @GMAiBilib #ibilib #nationalscienceweek #dost pic.twitter.com/nwpPyYtyGO
— Chris Tiu (@chris_tiu) July 22, 2017
We were first notified of Chris Tiu and his crew’s arrival by the huge crowd that circled around him. Around an hour later, we noticed that the crowd was moving towards us. To say I was nervous was an understatement. When he finally arrived, we introduced ourselves and the area around our exhibit was fenced out. We presented our project and we even let him try to control it. Even though we had to take multiple takes for some of the scenes and the battery was starting to die by then end of , I would say the interview was a great success. You can find the link to the video of our interview and Chris’ original tweet.