Artificial biometric finger driven by shape-memory alloy wires.

This paper presents the design and testing of an artificial finger based partly on biomechanics. The prototype was manufactured in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic using a rapid prototyping three-dimensional printer. The flexing of the finger was realized by Ni-Ti shape-memory alloy (SMA) wires with diameters of 0.3 mm, activated by resistive heating. The results obtained show the new prototype to be superior in performance, mainly in terms of angles of rotation of the phalanges, compared with some SMA fingers discussed in the literature.

[1]  Ahmed El Kady,et al.  A shape memory alloy actuated anthropomorphic prosthetic hand: Initial experiments , 2011, 2011 1st Middle East Conference on Biomedical Engineering.

[2]  Shaker A. Meguid,et al.  Shape morphing of aircraft wing: Status and challenges , 2010 .

[3]  José Sérgio da Rocha Neto,et al.  Control of strain in a flexible beam using Ni-Ti-Cu shape memory alloy wire actuators , 2012 .

[4]  Daniel Rodrigues de Camargo.  Desenvolvimento do protótipo de uma prótese antropomórfica para membros superiores , 2008 .

[5]  Gangbing Song,et al.  Robust control of a shape memory alloy wire actuated flap , 2007 .

[6]  Edward J. Park,et al.  A shape memory alloy-based tendon-driven actuation system for biomimetic artificial fingers, part I: design and evaluation , 2009, Robotica.

[7]  Constantinos Mavroidis,et al.  Mechanical design of a shape memory alloy actuated prosthetic hand. , 2002, Technology and health care : official journal of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine.

[8]  Hiroshi Yokoi,et al.  New Shape Memory Alloy Actuator: Design and Application in the Prosthetic Hand , 2005, 2005 IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology 27th Annual Conference.

[9]  A. Tzes,et al.  Design of an anthropomorphic prosthetic hand driven by Shape Memory Alloy actuators , 2008, 2008 2nd IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics.

[10]  L G Machado,et al.  Medical applications of shape memory alloys. , 2003, Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologicas.