• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.19-23
• /
• 2024

Patients with amputations of both hands need prosthetic hands that serve both cosmetic and functional purposes, and research on prosthetic hands using electromyography of remaining muscles is active, but there is still the problem of high cost. In this study, an artificial prosthetic hand was manufactured and its performance was evaluated using low-cost parts and software such as a surface electromyography sensor, machine learning software Edge Impulse, Arduino Nano 33 BLE, and 3D printing. Using signals acquired with surface electromyography sensors and subjected to digital signal processing through Edge Impulse, the flexing movement signals of each finger were transmitted to the fingers of the prosthetic hand model through training to determine the type of finger movement using machine learning. When the digital signal processing conditions were set to a notch filter of 60 Hz, a bandpass filter of 10-300 Hz, and a sampling frequency of 1,000 Hz, the accuracy of machine learning was the highest at 82.1%. The possibility of being confused between each finger flexion movement was highest for the ring finger, with a 44.7% chance of being confused with the movement of the index finger. More research is needed to successfully develop a low-cost prosthetic hand.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.484-492
• /
• 2022

This paper presents a simple and robust under-actuated robotic finger mechanism that enables self-adaptive grip, fingertip pinch, and caging grasp functions. In order to perform daily activities using hands, the fingers should be able to perform adaptive gripping and pinching motion, and the caging grasp function is required to realize natural gripping motions and improve grip reliability. However, general commercial prosthetic hands cannot implement all three functions because they use under-actuation mechanism and simple mechanical structure to achieve light-weight and high robustness characteristic. In this paper, new mechanism is proposed that maintains structural simplicity and implements all the three finger functions with simple one degree-of-freedom control through a combination of a four-bar linkage mechanism and a wire-driven mechanism. The basic structure and operating principle of the proposed finger mechanism were explained, and simulation and experiments using the prototype were conducted to verify the gripping performance of the proposed finger mechanism.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.40 no.6
• /
• pp.242-249
• /
• 2019

Forearm electromyography (EMG) generated by wrist movements has been widely used to develop an electrical prosthetic hand, but EMG generated by finger movements has been rarely used even though 20% of amputees lose fingers. The goal of this study is to improve the classification performance of different finger movements using a deep learning algorithm, and thereby contributing to the development of a high-performance finger-based prosthetic hand. Ten participants took part in this study, and they performed seven different finger movements forty times each (thumb, index, middle, ring, little, fist and rest) during which EMG was measured from the back of the right hand using four bipolar electrodes. We extracted mean absolute value (MAV), root mean square (RMS), and mean (MEAN) from the measured EMGs for each trial as features, and a 5x5-fold cross-validation was performed to estimate the classification performance of seven different finger movements. A long short-term memory (LSTM) model was used as a classifier, and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) that is a widely used classifier in previous studies was also used for comparison. The best performance of the LSTM model (sensitivity: 91.46 ± 6.72%; specificity: 91.27 ± 4.18%; accuracy: 91.26 ± 4.09%) significantly outperformed that of LDA (sensitivity: 84.55 ± 9.61%; specificity: 84.02 ± 6.00%; accuracy: 84.00 ± 5.87%). Our result demonstrates the feasibility of a deep learning algorithm (LSTM) to improve the performance of classifying different finger movements using EMG.

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.217-226
• /
• 2006

Grasping and manipulation by hands can be considered as one of inevitable functions to achieve the performances desired in humanoid operations. When a humanoid robot manipulates an object by his hands, each finger should be well-controlled to accomplish a precise manipulation of the object grasped. So, the trajectory of each joint required for a precise finger motion is fundamentally necessary to be planned stably. In this sense, this paper proposes an effective joint motion planning method for humanoid fingers. The proposed method newly employs a bio-mimetic concept for joint motion planning. A suitable model that describes an interphalangeal coordination in a human finger is suggested and incorporated into the proposed joint motion planning method. The feature of the proposed method is illustrated by simulation results. As a result, the proposed method is useful for a facilitative finger motion. It can be applied to improve the control performance of humanoid fingers or prosthetic fingers.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.193-204
• /
• 2016

This paper presents an anthropomorphic finger prosthesis for amputees whose proximal phalanx is mutilated. The finger prosthesis to be proposed is able to make the amputees to perform the natural motion such as flexion/extension as well as self-adaptive grasping motion as if normal human finger does. The mechanism of finger prosthesis with three degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) consists of two five-bar and one four-bar linkages. Two passive components composed of torsional spring and mechanical stopper and only one active joint are employed in order to realize an underactuation. Each passive component is installed into the five-bar linkage. In order to activate the finger prosthesis, it is required for the user to flex and extend the remaining proximal phalanx on the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint, not an electric motor. Thus the finger prosthesis conducts not only the natural motion according to his/her intention but also the grasping motion through the deformation of springs by the object for human finger-like behavior. In order to reveal the operation principle of the proposed mechanism, kinematic analysis is performed for the linkage design. Finally both simulations and experiments are conducted in order to reveal the design feasibility of the proposed finger mechanism.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
• /
• 2003.05a
• /
• pp.876-881
• /
• 2003

This study focused on to design and toanalysis of a myoelectronic hand. We considered a low frequency factor in human life and to quantify low frequency which a human body responded to using a 1-axis ant a 3-axis accelerometer. The dynamic myoelectronic hand are important for tasks such a continuous prosthetic control and a EMG signal recognition, which have not been successfully mastered by the most neural approached To control myoelectronic hand, classifying myoelectronic patterns are also important. Experimental results of FEM are 110㎫ on Thumb, 200㎫ on Index finger, 220㎫ on Middle finger 260㎫ on Ring finger and 270㎫ on Little finger. Experimental results of accelerometer are 1.4-0.4(m/s2) ,(5-20(〔Hz〕) in Feeding activity and 0.4-0(m/s2) (0-10〔Hz〕) in Lifting activity. Considering these facts, we suggest a new type myoelectronic hand.

• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.234-242
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this paper is to verify the practical effectiveness of an interphalangeal coordination-based joint motion planning method for humanoid finger operations. For the purpose, several experiments have been performed and comparative experimental results are shown. Through the experimental works, it is confirmed that according to the employed joint motion planning method, the joint configurations for a finger's trajectory can be planned stably or not, and consequently the actual joint torque command for controlling the finger can be made moderately or not. Finally, this paper analyzes that the interphalangeal coordination-based joint motion planning method is practically useful for implementing a stable finger manipulation. It is remarkably noted that the torque pattern by the method is well-balanced. Therefore, it is expected that the control performance of humanoid or prosthetic fingers can be enhanced by the method.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.18-28
• /
• 2023

This study introduces a smart wrist band system with pressure measurements using wrist skin curvature variation due to finger motion. It is easy to wear and take off without pre-adaptation or surgery to use. By analyzing the depth variation of wrist skin curvature during each finger motion, we elaborated the most suitable location of each Force Sensitive Resistor (FSR) to be attached in the wristband with anatomical consideration. A 3D depth camera was used to investigate distinctive wrist locations, responsible for the anatomically de-coupled thumb, index, and middle finger, where the variations of wrist skin curvature appear independently. Then sensors within the wristband were attached correspondingly to measure the pressure change of those points and eventually the finger motion. The smart wrist band was validated for its practicality through two demonstrative applications, i.e., one for a real-time control of prosthetic robot hands and the other for natural human-computer interfacing. And hopefully other futuristic human-related applications would be benefited from the proposed smart wrist band system.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2024

This paper presents an under-actuated robotic hand inspired by the ligamentous structure of the human hand for a prosthetic application. The joint mechanisms are based on the concept of a tensegrity structure formed by elastic strings. These rigid bodies and elastic strings in the mechanism emulate the phalanx bones and primary ligaments found in human finger joints. As a result, the proposed hand inherently possesses compliant characteristics, ensuring robust adaptability during grasping and when interacting with physical environments. For the practical implementation of the tensegrity-based joint mechanism, we detail the installation of the strings and the routing of the driving tendon, which are related to extension and flexion, respectively. Additionally, we have designed the palm structure of the proposed hand to facilitate opposition and tripod grips between the fingers and thumb, taking into account the transverse arch of the human palm. In conclusion, we tested a prototype of the proposed hand to evaluate its motion and grasping capabilities.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.25-29
• /
• 1968

The purposes of this study were to measure the film thickness of zinc phosphate cement between the casting restorations and preparation walls. In addition, the differences between finger press and non press techniques after the castings were seated completely on the preparation by an automatic mallet until the cement set were studied. The results were as follows : 1) In full cast crown, the cement film thickness on the side wall was thinner than that on the other walls. 2) In 3/4 crown and inlay, the cement thickness was thinner than that in cast crowns. 3) The cement of great W/P ratio showed thinner thickness than that of little W/P ratio. 4) The continuous finger press after the castings were seated completely on the preparations had few influence on the cement film thickness.