Paper Info
Title
Development of new cosmetic gloves for myoelectric prosthetic hand using superelastic rubber.
Abstract
This paper reports on the design and development of new cosmetic gloves made of two different superelastic rubbers – thermoplastic styrene elastomer (TSE) and silicone rubber (TSG silicone) – and compares them with gloves made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for myoelectric prosthetic hands to realize a realistic appearance and flexible motion. The materials are compared in terms of their appearance, material, mechanical, and sensing properties. Appearance properties include the shape, wrinkles, fingerprints, texture, nail, and color of the hand; these properties are designed so as to produce a prosthetic hand that looks similar to a human hand. The material properties are evaluated in terms of adaptability for daily living without preventing finger motions of the powered hand by performing a tear strength test. Mechanical properties are improved by designing the thickness of the palm to grip an object. The sensing properties are essential for acquiring information about the object and the environment. The overall performance is evaluated through a material engineering test and a pick-and-place test with a powered prosthetic hand. Tear strength comparisons showed that TSE and TSG silicone could respectively withstand 5–7 and 3 times the strain that PVC could withstand before breakage. The TSE glove shows the highest stretching length before breaking and shows high flexibility even after breaking. The electric currents during EMG prosthetic hand motion showed that TSE and TSG silicone gloves successfully reduced energy consumption by around one-third for many hand movements. Flexibility test results for the maximum opening posture showed that the PVC glove greatly restricted the hand opening width. However, the differences between the cases without and with TSE gloves were very small; therefore, both cases show the same range of motion. The flexible TSE facilitated easy fitting and therefore had the lowest fitting time; in fact, it can be worn in one-third the time required for wearing PVC or TSG silicone gloves. In pick-and-place experiments, TSG silicone and TSE gloves both showed similar results for successfully grasping objects. The TSE glove is hard to break and has high elasticity; therefore, nails can be added to it. Furthermore, TSG resin is thermosetting and can be processed at room temperature, making it easy to impart conductivity. Therefore, the TSG silicone material is more suitable for implementing a sensor.
Year
DOI
Venue
2019
10.1016/j.robot.2018.09.004
Robotics and Autonomous Systems
Keywords
Field
DocType
Cosmetic gloves,Myoelectric prosthetic hand,Gripping performance,Skin texture,Superelastic rubber,Thermoplastic styrene elastomer,Silicone elastomer
Biomedical engineering,Thermosetting polymer,Tear resistance,Simulation,Computer science,Silicone,Silicone rubber,Natural rubber,Thermoplastic,Material properties,Elastomer
Journal
Volume
ISSN
Citations 
111
0921-8890
0
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.34
2
8
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Yoshiko Yabuki113.41
Kazumasa Tanahashi200.34
Yasuhiro Mouri301.01
Yuta Murai412.65
Shunta Togo526.05
Ryu Kato67818.23
Yinlai Jiang71011.72
Hiroshi Yokoi838392.58