Projects Profile
Project Title
Development of a Prototype Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand
Partnership
Prof. Jian S Dai from King's College London
Prof. Shu X Wang from Tianjin University
Project Aim
In this project King’s College London and Tianjin University are collaborating to investigate the feasibility and commercial application of a novel robotic palm mechanism for the development of a new generation of prosthetic hand designs.
The project will draw on the excellent mechatronics expertise from King’s College London and good research expertise of prosthetic robotics and good industrial contact from Tianjin university to demonstrate a novel prosthetic hand design and develop a working prototype prosthetic hand and the control systems which will be suitable for further commercial exploration and can be translatable to broader commercial applications where prosthetic hands will be at the extreme of required robotic hand functionality.
Inspiration for the projects
The traditional prosthetic hands are of large volume, small graspability and poor dexterity and can only accomplish simple open and close motions. These simplistic mechanical prosthetic hands designs, although it has been able to allow people to recover a limited basic functions, the majority of the abilities of a human hand are lost, which seriously limits the capability for prosthetic hand wearers to recover his or her normal life. To allow a handicap person to recover most of the lost ability due to the lost of a hand in accidents or due to illness, more flexible prosthetic hands capable of functioning closer to real human hands are needed in order to improve the quality of life of the prosthetic hand wearer. To address this medical need new mechanism and materials needs to be developed. New designs and structures for prosthetic hands need to be explored.
Currently some robotic hands (or grippers) with humanoid fingers, are operated remotely and replace people in high-level service or dangerous environments. However the volume, weight, appearance and dexterity of these robotic hands still need some improvement. In the robotic field, all the hand designs incorporate a rigid and inflexible palm and although recent developments have resulted in a two-part palm the development of functionality is still limited.
Innovation Elements
The key innovation in this project is that it will be the first of a class prosthetic hands using a novel mechanism for a palm. The mechanism is a novel class of mechatronics that can self-change their structure and adapt to any requirements. The palm can move independently of the fingers introducing additional degrees of freedom and hence generate a wider range of movement.
Using this innovative mechanism, a new generation of prosthetic hand of high flexibility and analogue to real human hand, both in shape and in functionality, will be developed.
Commercial Potential and Further Development
The outcome of the project will produce a marketable prototype of a novel prosthetic hand and associated electronic control system that can be shown across or licensed to a variety of industries, not just the prosthetic industry. The prototype prosthetic hand will be highly flexible in movements and with an
increased functionality to offer a better quality of life. It will also have a more realistic looking prosthetic over functionality.
The technology has attracted strong industry interests. Numerous of enquiries have been received, and several companies have expressed interests in accessing the research result upon the project completion.
