Study of a Novel Soft Robotic Actuator for Hand Rehabilitation

In this paper, a one-piece eccentric bellows soft body actuator and an anti-bias structure of the actuator are proposed. These are combined with the advantages of soft body actuators and the requirements of hand rehabilitation training. A portable soft body robot for hand rehabilitation is developed. The anti-bias structure can effectively reduce the lateral bending of the soft actuator and limit the main motion of the soft actuator to bending motion. This can reduce the energy loss of the soft actuator due to abnormal bending deformation and obtain a larger output force. The results of the experimental tests on maximum output force, the output force under different air pressures, the bending angle, and the anti-side bending show that this soft hand robot can meet the requirements of rehabilitation training for patients with hand dysfunction and has a certain degree of stability.