Design and Fabrication of Soft Prosthetic Hand

This study focuses on the development of soft robotic hand designed to aid individuals with hand disabilities, particularly those paralyzed due to strokes. Globally, strokes affect 15 million people annually, leading to 5 million deaths and leaving another 5 million with permanent disabilities that significantly impact their lives and communities. The soft robotic hand developed attempts to addresses the limitations of traditional robotic hands through the use of PneuNets, a pneumatic network framework that mimics the structure and function of a human hand. The hand's design incorporates pneumatic chambers that enable controlled finger movements, essential for grasping, lifting, and manipulating objects with precision. The primary components of the hand were fabricated using additive manufacturing and molding techniques, with a silicone outer layer added to enhance safety and compliance. The microcontroller-based control system is tailored to execute desired actions effectively, ensuring the soft hand’s adaptability to various tasks. Performance evaluations involved both simple and complex task profiles, demonstrating the hand's capability to handle a variety of objects with low variability in force and high precision. Specific technical results include the measurement of grasping forces, pressure requirements for actuation, and the assessment of attenuation losses during operation. Prior designs of soft robotic hands often suffer from issues like single-mode gripping and high attenuation losses; our approach mitigates these challenges through an optimized mechanical design coupled with learning algorithms that enhance grasping and manipulation efficiency. The soft characteristics of the robotic hand allow it to adapt its shape, making it capable of handling objects of varying sizes and shapes, thereby improving the daily functionality for individuals with hand impairments. This novel design not only offers increased independence and quality of life for patients but also provides a cost-effective and easily producible solution for wearable soft robotics.