Published September 9, 2023 © MIT

An EMG-Controlled Claw With Arduino

EMG-based control of a servo-driven claw via Arduino, enabling precise muscle-actuated manipulation.

IntermediateProtip2 hours1,246

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino Nano R3

EMG Sensor Module

Mechanical Robot Claw

9V battery (generic)

Seeed Studio EMax 12g ES08MD high Sensitive servo

Software apps and online services

Arduino IDE

Story

EMG-Controlled Claw with Arduino:

Electromyography (EMG) is a technique used to measure and record the electrical activity produced by muscles during their contraction and relaxation. It allows us to monitor the electrical signals generated by the neuromuscular system as muscles contract.

The project showcases the Human-machine Interaction, where your natural muscle movements directly communicate with and control a mechanical claw.

Wirings:

Connecting the EMG sensor to your Arduino. The EMG sensor has five pins, connect them as follows:

Vs+ to +Ve of 9V battery
GND1st should be connected to the wire shorting a positive and negative pin of two 9v batteries.
Vs- to -Ve of 9v battery
Sig pin to Arduino's A0
GND2nd to Arduino's GND

Connect the servo motor to your Arduino:

Servo signal pin to Arduino's D7
Servo's positive and negative to the corresponding of power supply.

The connections may be confusing, so refer the schematics provided below.

Schematics

Mount the Servo Motor to an aluminum gripper as shown in the figure.

Servo motor with a claw machenism.

Follow the image below to place electrodes.

Code

EMG controlled Servo Motor

#include <Servo.h>

int emgPin = A0;         
int servoPin = 7;       

Servo servo;              
int emgThreshold = 20;   // Adjust this threshold as needed
float emgFiltered = 0.0; // Filtered EMG value
float alpha = 0.2;       // Filter coefficient

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  servo.attach(servoPin); 

void loop() {
  int emgValue = analogRead(emgPin); 

  // Apply the low-pass filter
  emgFiltered = (alpha * emgValue) + ((1 - alpha) * emgFiltered);

  if (emgFiltered > emgThreshold) {
   
    servo.write(120); //Change servo position acc. to your requirement
  } else {
    
    servo.write(30);
  }

  Serial.print("EMG Value: ");
  Serial.println(emgFiltered);

  delay(50); // Adjust the delay as needed
}

Credits

Anip Shah

9 projects • 4 followers

Tech enthusiast and programmer who also happens to be a Biomedical Engineer.

An EMG-Controlled Claw With Arduino

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

EMG-Controlled Claw with Arduino:

Wirings:

Schematics

Interfacing EMG module & Servo motor With Arduino nano

Code

EMG controlled Servo Motor

Credits

Anip Shah

Comments

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An EMG-Controlled Claw With Arduino

An EMG-Controlled Claw With Arduino

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Story

EMG-Controlled Claw with Arduino:

Wirings:

Schematics

Interfacing EMG module & Servo motor With Arduino nano

Code

EMG controlled Servo Motor

Credits

Anip Shah

Comments

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