Development of a fully flexure-based prosthetic hand

Abstract

Prosthetic fingers, fully consisting out flexure hinges are the newest innovation in the world of prosthetics. At the moment these newly developed fingers lack in rotational stiffness, which is needed to grasp relatively medium sized objects. Rotational stiffness depends on resistance for torsion and lateral bending. Since simulations are not able to point out which of the two properties causes this lack of stiffness, testing is needed. Therefore a 3D printed test rig is designed, able to accurately measure both properties. In order to ensure high accuracy, several key parts are explained and verified. Eventually, a test rig is constructed which has most capabilities to perform the different tests on a broad range of fingers.