Analysis and implementation of control alternatives for
underactuated artificial hands based on the human grasp
Abstract:
The project delves
into the study of the human grasping process with the aim of
providing guidelines for the underactuated control of prosthetic
hands of a high number of degrees of freedom.
A great variety of robotic and prosthetic hands have been developed
in the last years, some to achieve grip stability and manipulation
skills similar to that of the human hand and others aimed at
achieving a better anthropomorphism and cosmetic appearance.
However, current hand prostheses are very simple from a
biomechanical point of view. The problem lies in the difficulty of
establishing a proper communication between the user and the
prosthesis. There is no simple way to achieve the interaction
between the amputee and a dexterous prosthesis of multiple degrees
of freedom, such as those developed in recent decades, as it
requires either too many independent control signals or an
intelligent controller. Trends in the control of robotic and
prosthetic hands indicate that a novelty in this area could be
achieved by observing and imitating the natural biomechanical
behavior of the hand, based on a space of reduced dimensionality.
First, the use of the principal components analysis is proposed to
reduce the dimensionality of the control problem so that the minimum
number of control inputs necessary for an advanced prosthetic hand
to perform daily-life activities can be established. Thus, the
possibility of a real-time control can be studied, through the use
of different multivariable control techniques.
Secondly, the analysis of different possibilities of intelligent
control of prostheses through high-tech novel communication
interfaces between the user and the prosthesis is addressed, which
may involve alternatives to the usual control by means of
electromyography signals. For this purpose, grasping experiments
(cylindrical and clamp) will be carried out both with the human hand
and with artificial hands printed using 3D technology. This
experimentation will provide anthropomorphic hands design criteria
from the control point of view.
The research can be of great interest in various applications, such
as: improvement of the design of bionic or prosthetic arms,
development of efficient robotic hands for domestic or industrial
applications or the development of haptic virtual reality devices.
