Transhumanist Appendage Addition Device

The following project was my Final Project for my "Electronics and Robotics" class at San Francisco State University in the "Conceptual Information Arts" department. 

Here is my artist's statement for the piece:
""Primitive Transhumanism #2: Sixth Finger"
Glove, Arduino, Code, Electrical Wire, Servo Motor, EMG Sensors, Low-Heat Plastic, Armature Wire, Power Adapter

I'm interested in the future of transhumanism especially from a DIY perspective and what the layman can take to mold ones body however they wish. Body liberation will not happen through the corporation, even though it will be the ever arching fight of our times, but these changes may be necessary to keep resisting the status quo in a world of the hyperreal. Taking the ideas of transhumanism and the body as moldable, I use everyday objects to create a primitive transhuman experience, which the viewer can participate. This piece adds to the body a sixth finger to the left hand. its purpose is left ambigous on purpose, to engage the viewer on what these sorts of transformations can mean for the body. I encourage viewers of the piece to imagine a world where a primitive transhumanism could be advantageous."

The glove uses my muscle flexing to react and move the motor. I used the Advancer Technologies EMG sensor board that gave me data that i could process with an arduino. Using that data i told the arduino to move a servo when I flexed. 

The project took a lot of fiddling with the EMG board, but once i debugged it, it was fairly easy to use. I got a lot of help from Randy'sProjects as well. 

Since i took a lot from other EMG projects, I felt no need to do a full Step By Step instructable, but if enough people ask i'll do a full tear down. Below is a video of the glove in action.


And here is the Code:

#include <Servo.h> 
const int analogInPin = A0;  // Analog input pin

int sensorValue = 0;        // value read from the sensor
Servo myservo;  // create servo object to control a servo 
int buttonPin = 8;                // a maximum of eight servo objects can be created 
 
int pos = 0;


void setup() {
  // initialize serial communications at 9600 bps:
  Serial.begin(9600); 
  myservo.attach(9);  // attaches the servo on pin 9 to the servo object 
  pinMode(buttonPin, INPUT); 
}

void loop() {
  // read the analog in value:
  sensorValue = analogRead(analogInPin);            

  // print the results to the serial monitor:
  Serial.print("sensor = " );                       
  Serial.println(sensorValue);  
  if(sensorValue > 350){
      for(pos = 90; pos < 180; pos += 1)  // goes from 0 degrees to 180 degrees 
    {                                  // in steps of 1 degree 
      myservo.write(pos);              // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos' 
      delay(5);                       // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position 
    } 
     for(pos = 180; pos>=91; pos-=1)     // goes from 180 degrees to 0 degrees 
    {                                
      myservo.write(pos);              // tell servo to go to position in variable 'pos' 
      delay(5);                       // waits 15ms for the servo to reach the position 
    }
    }
   else{
    
  }
                    
}