Abstract
Modern externally powered upper-body prostheses are conventionally actuated by electricservomotors. Although these motors achieve reasonable kinematic performance, theyare voluminous and heavy. Deterring factors such as these lead to a substantialproportion of upper extremity amputees avoiding the use of their prostheses.Therefore, it is apparent that there exists a need for functional prosthetic devicesthat are compact and lightweight. The realization of such a device requires analternative actuation technology, and biological inspiration suggests that tendon basedsystems are advantageous. Shape memory alloys are a type of smart materialthat exhibit an actuation mechanism resembling the biological equivalent. Assuch, shape memory alloy enabled devices promise to be of major importancein the future of dexterous robotics, and of prosthetics in particular. This paperinvestigates the design, instrumentation, and control issues surrounding the practicalapplication of shape memory alloys as artificial muscles in a three-fingered robothand.
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