Testing Site

Super-Simple Bat Glove

Technology Wearables
Super-Simple Bat Glove

By now, hopefully, most of you will have seen Steve Hoefferโ€™s Tacit haptic wrist rangefinder project in MAKE Vol 29. MAKE regular David Prutchi recently saw it, and just sent me a link to this functionally similar device built by his daughter Hannah back in October.

While Steveโ€™s rangefinder goes โ€œall outโ€ with an embedded microcontroller, โ€œstereoโ€ ultrasonic distance sensors, and matching paired haptic servos, Hannahโ€™s design keeps it super simple: An off-the shelf IR distance sensor, an easy analog circuit, and a pager motor. Unlike ultrasonics, IR sensors can be confused by sunlight or other strong IR sources in the environment, but if you just want to experiment with โ€œbat gloveโ€ technology, or if you want to make a large number of sensors, Hannahโ€™s SharkVision design may be for you. The Prutchis are talking about building an entire suit covered with them! [Thanks, David!]

More:

What will the next generation of Make: look like? Weโ€™re inviting you to shape the future by investing in Make:. By becoming an investor, you help decide whatโ€™s next. The future of Make: is in your hands. Learn More.

Tagged

I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't โ€“ Magazin fรผr Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

View more articles by Sean Michael Ragan
Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!

ADVERTISEMENT

FEEDBACK