Simple servo prosthetic control

Hey everyone, I’m very new to arduino first and foremost.

I’ve gotten the hang of writing most commands in C that are used and figuring out how the arduino works, I have an arduinomega that I picked up at radioshack. I’ve done a few projects with small robots and potentiometer controls for different things. But I wanted to just get used to the arduino before I use it for the real project that I wanted to do. When I was a kid I was in an accident and I lost my middle finger, but still retain some bone and the metacarpophelangeal joint, most of the metacarpal beneath my index finger (and the finger of course), and half of my thumb. I’ve decided that I’d like to build a small prosthetic finger for my index finger and pick up an x-finger for the two other fingers. I plan on using small emg electrodes on the residual muscle to pick up muscle movements and then just correlate them with a small servo movement. Then 3-d print some phalangeal peices and some joints at the local Uni and use two wires for the makeshift “muscle”. Anyways I was wondering, I need a pcb that is very very small about as small as arduino nano preferably smaller all it has to do is read the emg and control the servo, any advice on where to start on that? I don’t really want to use the arduino nano because it’ll take up alot of uneeded space on my hand that I won’t use on the board.

Not sure how helpful but maybe try:

kapton copper clad laminate

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Flexible-pcb-sh … 0835611788

Photosensitive dry film

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Photosensitive- … 0837092181

and

Cheap Arduino Pro Mini

Disassemble the Pro Mini with a heat gun or hot air station.

Then using the Schematic for the mini. (http://arduino.cc/it/Main/ArduinoBoardProMini)

and

some PCB design software

EAGLE (http://www.cadsoftusa.com/download-eagl … anguage=en)

Or maybe even Photoshop, illustrator or gimp if it is only couple of inputs & outputs You need.

Design your own small layout then etch on to the kapton.(instructions on Photosensitive dry film page)

Finally re-solder the relevant parts of the mini on to the kapton.

Quick rough guess 40mmL 20mmH folded into 4 sections.

one section for power, one section for chip, one section for reset & LED and one section for Inputs/outputs.

This way you could fold it back on it’s self or you could.

Leave a bit of unconnected copper pad at both ends, then fold the four sections at 90 degrees to the last fold ,

so as to create a square shaped ring then solder the unconnected copper pads together.

When designing layout keep in mind that you can make your design fold-able, so as to make as many layers as you need.

If you isolate each layer (clear nail polish works good for tiny stuff) you can fold it back on it’s self.

This way you can fit a large layout into a small area.

Cost about $15 to $25 all up, hopefully that gives you some where to start.