Design and fabrication of bidirectional soft actuator for prosthetic hand applications
A.L. Khaleel, H.K. Abdul-Ameer
Abstract: Objective: In this work we design and evaluate a bidirectional pneumatic soft actuator made from silicone rubber (RTV2 C10) for the use in prosthetic hand. The actuator aimed to enhance flexibility and provide motion in two directions that mimic the actions of the human fingers. Materials and Methods: Two parallel air chambers are used in the actuator design where each chamber is divided into smaller internal cavities. These chambers are linked through a narrow connecting channel. The fabrication process relied on a molding technique based on 3D printed molds. Three separate mold components were designed and printed to allow accurate casting of silicone rubber into the desired shape. The completed actuators were then tested using an experimental setup. Results: We evaluate the performance of the developed actuators by measuring the maximum bending angle and output force under various air pressures. Three air-chamber dimensions (3.5 mm, 4.5 mm, and 5.5 mm) were tested to compare the actuator’s response. We noticed that the 5.5 mm chamber produced the largest bending angle whereas the 3.5 mm chamber showed the smallest. On the other hand, force analysis revealed that the actuator with 3.5 mm spacing generated the highest output force at an air pressure of 102 kPa and the 5.5 mm model returned the lowest under the same conditions. Discussion: The findings suggest that increasing the distance between air chambers enhances bending and overall flexibility where it indicates that shorter chamber spacing raises greater force. Conclusion: The developed actuator demonstrates promising properties for use in prosthetic hand designs. The bending range and force output enable the actuator for producing human-like finger motion that used in assistive robotic applications.
Series on Biomechanics, Vol.39, No.1(2025), 67-77
DOI: 10.7546/SB.08.03.2025
Keywords: 3d printing molds; bidirectional actuator; silicone casting; soft actuator
| References: (click to open/close) | [1] Sun, Y., Song, Y. S., Paik, J., 2013. Characterization of silicone rubber based soft pneumatic actuators. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 4446–4453.
[2] Ilievski, F., Mazzeo, A. D., Shepherd, R. F., Chen, X., Whitesides, G. M., 2011. Soft Robotics for Chemists. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 50, 1890–1895.
[3] Shepherd, R. F., et al. ,2011. Multigait soft robot. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 108, 51, 20400–20403.
[4] Correll, N., Önal, Ç. D., Liang, H., Schoenfeld, E., Rus, D., 2014. Soft autonomous materials—using active elasticity and embedded distributed computation. In: Experimental Robotics: The 12th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics. Springer, 227–240.
[5] Trivedi, D., Rahn, C. D., Kier, W. M., Walker, I. D. ,2008. Soft robotics: Biological inspiration, state of the art, and future research. Appl. Bionics Biomech. 5, 99–117.
[6] Seok, S., Onal, C. D., Wood, R., Rus, D., Kim, S., 2010. Peristaltic locomotion with antagonistic actuators in soft robotics. International conference on robotics and automation. IEEE,1228–1233.
[7] Suzumori, K., Endo, S., Kanda, T., Kato, N., Suzuki, H., 2007. A bending pneumatic rubber actuator realizing soft-bodied manta swimming robot. International conference on robotics and automation, IEEE, 4975–4980.
[8] Polygerinos, P., Wang, Z., Galloway, K. C., Wood, R. J., Walsh, C. J., 2015. Soft robotic glove for combined assistance and at-home rehabilitation. Robot. Auton. Syst. 73, 135–143.
[9] Polygerinos, P., et al., 2015. Modeling of soft fiber-reinforced bending actuators. IEEE Trans. Robot. 31, 778–789.
[10] Wang, Z., Polygerinos, P., Overvelde, J. T., Galloway, K. C., Bertoldi, K., Walsh, C. J., 2016. Interaction forces of soft fiber reinforced bending actuators. IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron. 22, 717–727.
[11] Tawk, C., Alici, G., 2020. Finite element modeling in the design process of 3D printed pneumatic soft actuators and sensors. Robotics 9, 52.
[12] Marchese, A. D., Katzschmann, R. K., Rus, D., 2015. A recipe for soft fluidic elastomer robots. Soft Robot. 2, 7–25.
[13] Schmitt, F., Piccin, O., Barbé, L., Bayle, B., 2018. Soft robots manufacturing: A review. Front. Robot. AI 5, 84.
[14] Walker, S., Yirmibeşoğlu, O., Daalkhaijav, U., Mengüç, Y., 2019. Additive manufacturing of soft robots. In: Robotic Systems and Autonomous Platforms. Elsevier, 335–359.
[15] Hainsworth, T., Smith, L., Alexander, S., MacCurdy, R., 2020. A fabrication free, 3D printed, multi-material, self-sensing soft actuator. IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett. 5, 4118–4125.
[16] Marchese, A. D., Katzschmann, R. K., Rus, D., 2015. A recipe for soft fluidic elastomer robots. Soft Robot. 2, 7–25.
[17] Suzumori, K., Iikura, S., Tanaka, H., 1991. Development of flexible microactuator and its applications to robotic mechanisms. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 1622–1623.
[18] McMahan, W., et al., 2006. Field trials and testing of the OctArm continuum manipulator. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2336–2341.
[19] Luo, M., et al., 2015. Slithering towards autonomy: a self-contained soft robotic snake platform with integrated curvature sensing. Bioinspir. Biomim. 10, 055001.
[20] Chen, W., Xiong, C., Liu, C., Li, P., Chen, Y., 2019. Fabrication and Dynamic Modeling of Bidirectional Bending Soft Actuator Integrated with Optical Waveguide Curvature Sensor. Soft Robot. 6, 495–506.
[21] Zhang, B., Hu, C., Yang, P., Liao, Z., Liao, H., 2019. Design and Modularization of Multi-DoF Soft Robotic Actuators. IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett. 4, 2645–2652.
[22] Bilodeau, R. A., Yuen, M. C., Case, J. C., Buckner, T. L., Kramer-Bottiglio, R., 2018. Design for Control of a Soft Bidirectional Bending Actuator. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 1–8.
[23] Chandler, J. H., Chauhan, M., Garbin, N., Obstein, K. L., Valdastri, P., 2020. Parallel Helix Actuators for Soft Robotic Applications. Front. Robot. AI 7, 00119.
[24] Nikolova, G. S., Tsveov, M. S., Dantchev, D. M., Kiriazov, P. K., 2021. CAD design of a new 3D geometrical model of the human body. Ser. Biomech. 35, 2, 58-64.
[25] Angelova, S., Raykov, P., Petrov, E., Raikova, R., 2021. A prototype of an active elbow orthosis problems of mechanical design and orthosis control. Ser. Biomech. 35, 3, 3-11.
[26] Abdul-Ameer, H. K., Ali, Z., Falah, D., Issa, L., Al-Timemy, A. H., 2021. Monitoring and analysis of plantar pressure map and foot motions using a wearable sensing system. Ser. Biomech. 35, 3, 46-56.
[27] Chakarova, D., Veneva, I., Venev, P., 2021. Simulation and experiments of a hybrid actuated exoskeleton for assistance and rehabilitation. Ser. Biomech. 35, 2, 21- 29.
[28] Lotfiani, A., Yi, X., Qinzhi, Z., Shao, Z., Wang, L., 2018. Design and Experiment of a Fast-Soft Pneumatic Actuator with High Output Force. In: 11th International Conference, ICIRA, Part I. Newcastle, NSW, Australia, 442–452.
[29] Li, W., Hu, D., Yang, L., 2023. Actuation Mechanisms and Applications for Soft Robots: A Comprehensive Review. Appl. Sci. 13, 9255.
[30] van der Borg, G., Warner, H., Ioannidis, M., van den Bogaart, G., Roos, W. H., 2023. PLA 3D Printing as a Straightforward and Versatile Fabrication Method for PDMS Molds. Polymers 15, 1498.
[31] D. D., Jha, N. K., Shetty, S., Jain, S., Bhat, M., 2020. Performance study of RTV-2 Silicone Rubber Material For Soft Actuator by Experimental and Numerical methods: The Effect of Inflation Pressure and Wall Thickness. Int. J. Automot. Mech. Eng. 17, 7524–7532.
[32] Bhat, A., Ambrose, J., Yeow, R., 2023. Composite Soft Pneumatic Actuators Using 3D Printed Skins. IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett., 1–8.
|
|
| Date published: 2025-10-28
(Price of one pdf file: 50.00 BGN/25.00 EUR)
