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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Loss of an upper limb exerts a negative influence on an individual’s ability to perform their activities of daily living (ADLs), reducing quality of life and self-esteem. A prosthesis capable of performing basic ADLs functions has the capability of restoring independence and autonomy to amputees. However, current technologies present in robotic prostheses are based on rigid actuators with several drawbacks, such as high weight and low compliance. Recent advances in robotics have allowed for the development of flexible actuators and artificial muscles to overcome the limitations of rigid actuators. Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) consist of a thin elastomer membrane arranged between two compliant electrodes capable of changing dimensions when stimulated with an electrical potential difference. In this work, we present the design and testing of a finger prosthesis driven by two DEAs arranged as agonist–antagonist pairs as artificial muscles. The soft actuators are designed as fiber-constrained dielectric elastomers (FCDE), enabling displacement in just one direction as natural muscles. The finger prosthesis was designed and modeled to show bend movement using just one pair of DEAs and was made of PLA in an FDM 3D printer to be lightweight. The experimental results show great agreement with the proposed model and indicate that the proposed finger prosthesis is promising in overcoming the limitations of the current rigid based actuators.

Details

Title
Finger Prosthesis Driven by DEA Pairs as Agonist–Antagonist Artificial Muscles
Author
Alexandre B S da Silva 1 ; Mendes, Gabriel E P 2 ; Bragato, Eduardo S 2 ; Novelli, Guilherme L 1 ; Monjardim, Marina 3 ; Andrade, Rafhael M 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitoria 29075-910, Brazil; Graduate Program of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitoria 29075-910, Brazil 
 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitoria 29075-910, Brazil 
 Graduate Program of Animal Biology, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitoria 29075-910, Brazil 
First page
110
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
23137673
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2930498066
Copyright
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.