Seven Benefits of Using Series Elastic Actuators in the Design of an Affordable, Simple Controlled, and Functional Prosthetic Hand

This paper highlights the benefits of using series elastic actuators (SEA) in designing a cost-efficient, easily controlled, and functional prosthetic hand. The designed 3D-printed hand uses only two motors in an antagonistic configuration, transferring power to the fingers via pulleys, cables, and springs; i.e., the motors are in an SEA configuration with the load/fingers. In the designed underactuated prosthetic hand, the thumb is adjustable for various tasks, and the optimization of pulley diameters ensures synchronized finger movement during hand flexion and extension. Thanks to the SEA configuration of the motors and fingers, simple position control of the motor enables features like hand position control, morphological grasp, force control, impedance control, slippage detection, safe interaction, and efficient grasp. An extensive set of experiments has been conducted to evaluate the designed prosthetic hand’s performance. The experiments confirm the hand’s satisfactory performance while also highlighting the importance of improving the proposed design in different aspects. To attain better position control and morphological grasp, minimizing the cable-body and joint friction is recommended. A higher resolution of the current/torque sensor is needed for the precise force control and slippage detection. Finally, a motor brake system is required to achieve efficient grasping.