Research of a dual stage bending dexterous robotic hand with EMG control
This Paper presented a new dual stage bending dexterous robotic hand whose soft composite finger (SCF) was consisted of a soft composite structure and a solid hinge both driven by shape memory alloy (SMA) wires. There are three layers of the soft composite structure: an equivalent natural plane with elastic PVC plate, an actuation layer with SMA wires and the basal structure using soft material polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The designation of the SCF was inspired by human fingers whose dimension information and movement principle determined the parameters of the bionic finger. The bending principle of the SCF can be describe as below: the hinge provides relative rotation between phalanx and metacarpal bone; the soft composite structure bends on this basis and provides a soft touch. The dual stage bending structure enhances deformation and force output. Several SCFs of different length form the dexterous robotic hand. Various gestures are achieved by the dexterous robotic hand through controlling the kinestate of the actuators. Electromyography (EMG) was used to control the bionic hand.