Design and Functional Evaluation of a Dexterous Myoelectric Hand Prosthesis with Biomimetic Tactile Sensor

This paper presents the design, tactile sensor, characterization, and control system of a new dexterous myoelectric hand prosthesis to overcome the limitations of state-of-the-art myoelectric prostheses (e.g., limited functionality, controllability, and sensory feedback). Our dexterous myoelectric hand allows independent finger movement and thumb abduction/adduction, with a motor for each finger and an additional motor for the thumb (i.e., six total motors). Each fingertip has a biomimetic tactile sensor with 13 tactile units, each of which can detect normal and tangential forces. The hand controller uses an electromyography pattern recognition controller and a tactile sensor feedback-based grasping controller to automatically and dynamically adjust the finger grasp force to prevent objects from slipping. This closed-loop controller structure will allow users to safely and effectively grasp complex objects with varying densities and shapes. In addition, the electronic hardware is integrated into the hand, and the pattern recognition controller can be implemented in the hand embedded system.