A Feasibility Test of Underactuated Robotic Prosthetic Fingers Actuated by Shape Memory Alloy

Abstract

This paper presents development of a two-fingered robotic device for amputees whose hands are partially impaired. In this research, we focused on developing a compact and lightweight robotic finger system, so the target amputee would be able to execute simple activities in daily living (ADL), such as grasping a bottle or a cup for a long time. The robotic finger module was designed by considering the impaired shape and physical specifications of the target patient's hand. The proposed prosthetic finger was designed using a linkage mechanism which was able to create underactuated finger motion. This underactuated mechanism contributes to minimizing the number of required actuators for finger motion. In addition, the robotic finger was not driven by an electro-magnetic rotary motor, but a shape-memory alloy (SMA) actuator. Having a driving method using SMA wire contributed to reducing the total weight of the prosthetic robot finger as it has higher energy density than that offered by the method using the electrical DC motor. In this paper, we confirmed the performance of the proposed robotic finger by fundamental driving tests and the characterization of the SMA actuator.