Performance Analysis of the Underactuated Finger for Adam's Hand

• Published in: IEEE access 2024, Vol.12, p.149492-149501
• Main Authors: Grazioso, Andrea, Cosma Potenza, Damiano, Antonio Zappatore, Giovanni, Reina, Giulio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: analytical modeling and analysis; Couplings; experimental testing and validation; Force; Gears; Haptic interfaces; Kinematics; Prosthetic hand; prosthetics; Protocols; Robot kinematics; robotic hands; Thumb; Torque; Underactuated fingers; Vectors
• ISSN: 2169-3536; 2169-3536
• DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3477249

The purpose of prosthetic hands is to replicate the functional capabilities of the human hand, allowing users to perform daily tasks effectively. The mechanical design of artificial fingers is a key factor in determining the overall performance of these prostheses. A novel solution in this field is the Adam Hand by BionIT Labs, which belongs to the family of underactuated, multiarticulated myoelectric prostheses. This paper presents a kinetostatic analysis of the Adam's Hand finger, which utilizes a gear train as an underactuated transmission mechanism. A test bench is also introduced to experimentally measure the grasping force when the finger spans its entire working range, defined by a 90° rotation of the proximal and distal phalanx joints. The experimental results demonstrate good agreement with the theoretical predictions, yielding mean percentage errors of less than 4%, with maximum error of about 6%. The analytical and experimental results obtained from Adam's hand are also compared with those of an alternative prosthesis, namely Bebionic, that is fully actuated.