Soft Robotic Hand

2018. A prosthetic hand I built to explore how it might be possible to integrate “soft robotic” actuation, which is cheap, durable and ideal for performing precise movements, with heavier, more expensive, brute-force robotics used in most prostheses.

Applications could include full-hand prosthesis replacement, providing grip strength for someone with a partly functioning hand, or even an additional exo- skeletal hand for people in certain jobs. The hand is actuated with a pneumatic system. It offers a wide range of actuation with just seven channels. To eliminate degrees of freedom, I molded an unstretchable fabric on the back, so as the actuators inflate, they tend to bend inward, like human fingers. I wrapped a tough fiber around the outside of each one to force the expansion more linearly, caus- ing a tighter bend, like a finger joint. The hand consists of three groupings: the four fingers that have very similar function; the thumb and palm; and the wrist. I fabricated each from 3D-printed molds I made and cast them in silicone.

Materials: Silicone, thread, PLA, PP Mesh