New optimum humanoid hand design for prosthetic applications.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Prosthetic hands often face challenges with cost, weight, and grasping functionality.
• Existing designs may lack the compliance and natural movement required for effective use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a commercially feasible prosthetic hand actuated by shape memory alloy (SMA) artificial muscles.
• To develop a novel palm structure for enhanced grasping capabilities.
• To create a lightweight, low-cost, and silent prosthetic hand.

Main Methods:

• The design incorporates three compliant fingers and a thumb actuated by SMA wires.
• A novel palm structure based on human hand arches was developed.
• A compact actuator module was designed for housing and cooling SMA wires.
• Design parameters were optimized for maximum work density.

Main Results:

• The prosthetic hand is lightweight, low cost, and operates silently.
• The novel palm design enhances grasping capabilities.
• The hand exhibits functional opening and closing speeds and fingertip force.

Conclusions:

• The developed SMA-actuated prosthetic hand presents a viable, cost-effective solution.
• The design advancements in actuation and palm structure offer improved functionality for prosthetic users.
• This work contributes to the development of more accessible and effective prosthetic devices.