Bowden-line Foot-controlled Finger Exoskeleton Device Driven by Pneumatic Muscles

Abstract

With the world being increasingly reliant on computers, hand disorders have become prevalent amongst the general population. To help patients with hand disorders better recover while still allowing them to live their normal lives, glove-like wearable robotic de-vices were developed. Most of those robotic devices, however, generate motion through electric motors, which is heavy and inconvenient. Soft body robots are popular nowadays because they are versatile, safe, low in cost, and comfortable to wear. Thus, a pneumatic muscle hand device is presented in this paper to provide aid to those with impaired hands in their daily lives. This system features 10 pneumatic muscles connected with strings attached to the inner and outer sides of every finger powered by an air valve which allows the retraction of the patient’s fingers. The patient is introduced to 5 pressure sensors able to be controlled by foot. To enable the patient to use the device on their own, the system is designed in a back-pack-like style.