Abstract
Robotic hand exoskeletons have become a popular and efficient technological solution for assisting people that suffer from neurological conditions and for enhancing the capabilities of healthy individuals. This class of devices ranges from rigid and complex structures to soft, lightweight, wearable gloves. In this work, we propose a hybrid (tendon-driven and pneumatic), lightweight, affordable, easy-to-operate exoskeleton glove equipped with variable stiffness, laminar jamming structures, abduction/adduction capabilities, and a pneumatic telescopic extra thumb that increases grasp stability. The efficiency of the proposed device is experimentally validated through five different types of experiments: i) abduction/adduction tests, ii) force exertion experiments that capture the forces that can be exerted by the proposed device under different conditions, iii) bending profile experiments that evaluate the effect of the laminar jamming structures on the way the fingers bend, iv) grasp quality assessment experiments that focus on the effect of the inflatable thumb on enhancing grasp stability, and v) grasping experiments involving everyday objects and seven subjects. The hybrid assistive, exoskeleton glove considerably improves the grasping capabilities of the user, being able to exert the forces required to execute a plethora of activities of daily living. All files that allow the replication of the device are distributed in an open-source manner.
Highlights
The human hand allows us to execute a wide range of complex tasks that require increased dexterity as well as to interact with our surroundings in a skillful manner
In this article, we focus on the development of a hybrid, soft, robotic exoskeleton glove (Fig. 1) that is equipped with abduction capabilities for all the fingers, a telescopic extra thumb that increases grasp stability, and variable stiffness soft structures at the back of the glove that can adjust the bending profiles of the fingers, facilitating the stabilization of a desired grasping pose
EXPERIMENTS AND RESULTS Five different experiments assessed the performance of the soft exoskeleton glove and each of its features
Summary
The human hand allows us to execute a wide range of complex tasks that require increased dexterity as well as to interact with our surroundings in a skillful manner. A plethora of neurological and musculoskeletal diseases can reduce the mobility of the human hand, such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis, spinal cord injury, and stroke, leaving humans impaired. In such cases, the rehabilitation process depends on the repetition of motions involving activities of daily living (ADLs) [1], [2]. By performing daily life exercises, which include opening and closing the hand as well as grasping various objects, spinal cord injury patients can improve their hand function [6]. Another medical condition that can affect the hand function is a stroke
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have