Page 34 - IJB-8-1

Multi-Layer Deformable Design for Prosthetic Hands
to complete complicated motions besides flexion and
extension.

Acknowledgments
This research is supported by the National Research
Foundation, Singapore under its International Research
Centres in Singapore Funding Initiative, and Institute for
Media Innovation, Nanyang Technological University
(IMI-NTU). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this material are those
of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of National
Research Foundation, Singapore.
Conflict of interest

The authors declare no known conflict of interest.

Author contributions
Figure 10. Fingertip trajectories during flexion with different L T. and HH L. proposed the multi-layer design and
designs of the underactuated system. These trajectories are captured prepared this paper. L T. and M FKBA H. conducted the
from the lateral view. Design 5 is from InMoov hand.
experiments. JM Z, YY C., NM T., and D T. supervised
this research and helped to revise this paper.
we further measured their maximum pull strength and
DIP range of motion (ROM) to decide the optimal one. References
With the same servomotor, the maximum pull strength of
Design 6 was 19.306 N, while that of Design 2 was only 1. Gama Melo EN, Aviles Sanchez OF, Amaya Hurtado D,
8.652 N. Design 6 also achieved the maximum DIP ROM et al., 2014, Anthropomorphic Robotic Hands: A Review. Ing
([0, 100]) among all variants. Therefore, we consider Desarro, 32:279–313.
Design 6 as the optimal choice for implementing our https://doi.org/10.14482/inde.32.2.4715
underactuated system.
2. Salisbury JK, Roth B, 1983, Kinematic and Force Analysis of
4. Conclusions Articulated Mechanical Hands. ASME J Mech Transm Autom

In this paper, we have proposed a fast and systematic Des, 105:35–41.
method to design and fabricate customizable robotic 3. Rothling F, Haschke R, Steil JJ, et al., 2007, Platform
hands which can be used as a prosthetic hand and other Portable Anthropomorphic Grasping with the Bielefeld 20-
research purposes. The core of our method is the multi- dof Shadow and 9-dof Tum Hand. IEEE/RSJ International
layer design (skin-tissue-bone) inspired by the anatomy Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego,
of the human hand. Our fast template matching method
can generate the 3D bone models of the target hand, while CA, USA.
our concentric tube-based structure for the tissue layer https://doi.org/10.1109/iros.2007.4398963
ensures that the fabricated hand is of high deformability. 4. Schmitz A, Pattacini U, Nori F, et al., 2010, Design,
With the multi-layer design, we significantly reduce the Realization and Sensorization of the Dexterous iCub Hand.
cost and complexity of the actuation system. The total 10 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid
th
3D printing and assemble time is around 12 h. The total Robots, Nashville, TN, USA.
material cost is below US$ 100. Extensive experiments
with the standard object grasping types as well as with https://doi.org/10.1109/ichr.2010.5686825
special objects demonstrate that our design is superior to 5. Deimel R, Brock O, 2016, A Novel Type of Compliant and
previous robotic hands. Underactuated Robotic Hand for Dexterous Grasping. Int J
We expect that this study can provide a new baseline Robot Res, 35:161–185.
for fabricating robotic hands based on 3D scanning and https://doi.org/10.1177/0278364915592961
3D printing. In the future, we plan to add soft sensors into
the hollow chamber of the tissue layer to help increase 6. Controzzi M, Clemente F, Barone D, et al., 2017, The SSSA-
the accuracy of object grasping and manipulation. We MyHand: A Dexterous Lightweight Myoelectric Hand
also plan to devise an actuation system with more DOFs Prosthesis. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng, 25:459–468.

20 International Journal of Bioprinting (2022)–Volume 8, Issue 1