Use a Nintendo Power Glove and Feather Sense running CircuitPython make a BLE MIDI synth gesture controller!

Use the four finger flex sensors in the Power Glove to send MIDI CC, Pitch Bend, or NoteOn/velocity info to your BLE MIDI synthesizer, including apps on iOS and computers. The Feather Sense nRF52840 has Bluetooth LE built in, as well as an on-board accelerometer used for tilt sensing.

No Power Glove? No problem -- build it with new flex sensors and your own glove.

Parts

You'll need the following parts for the build, including a Nintendo Power Glove, which you may have in your basement, or find at an auction online.

force___flex_NES-Power-Glove.jpg
By Evan-Amos - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16915852

Parts

Angled shot of blue, rectangular, microcontroller.
The Adafruit Feather Bluefruit Sense takes our popular Feather nRF52840 Express and adds a smorgasbord of sensors...
$39.50
In Stock
If the Feather nRF52840 Sense is out of stock, advanced users should be able to adjust the code to use a regular Feather nRF52840 plus an acceleromter, such as the LSM6DOX, but this has not been tested so mileage may vary.
Angled shot of an Assembled Terminal Block Breakout FeatherWing for all Feathers with black headers.
The Terminal Block Breakout FeatherWing kit is like the Golden Eagle of prototyping FeatherWings (eg. majestic, powerful, good-looking). To start, you get a nice prototyping area...
Out of Stock
Lithium Ion Polymer Battery 3.7v 2000mAh with JST 2-PH connector
Lithium-ion polymer (also known as 'lipo' or 'lipoly') batteries are thin, light, and powerful. The output ranges from 4.2V when completely charged to 3.7V. This...
Out of Stock
10 wire Silicone Cover Stranded-Core Ribbon Cable
For those who are fans of our silicone-covered wires, but are always looking to up their wiring game. We now have Silicone Cover Ribbon cables! These may look...
$3.95
In Stock
Break-away 0.1 inch 36-pin strip male header - White plastic
In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except we need headers, headers, and more headers!Each pack contains ten white 36-pin 0.1"...
$4.95
In Stock
Five pack of 20-pin 0.1 Female Header - White plastic
Female header is like the duct tape of electronics. It's great for connecting things together, soldering to perf-boards, sockets for wires or break-away header, etc. We go through...
$2.50
In Stock

Alternates

If you don't have a Power Glove, you can alternately build a BLE MIDI controller using any nRF52840 board and some flex sensors. These alternate boards also lack the accelerometer that's built onto the Feather Sense.

Hand bending Long Flex sensor between two fingers
This sensor can detect flexing or bending in one direction. They were popularized by being used in the Nintendo PowerGlove as a gaming interface.These sensors are easy to...
$12.95
In Stock
Short Flex Sensor with two pins at end
This sensor can detect flexing or bending in one direction. They were popularized by being used in the Nintendo PowerGlove as a gaming interface.These sensors are easy to...
$7.95
In Stock
Angled shot of a Adafruit Feather nRF52840 Express.
The Adafruit Feather nRF52840 Express is the new Feather family member with Bluetooth Low Energy and native USB support featuring the nRF52840!  It's...
$24.95
In Stock

This guide was first published on Apr 19, 2020. It was last updated on Mar 16, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

Text editor powered by tinymce.