Two-Digit Robotic Exoskeleton Glove Mechanism: Design and Integration

Abstract

This paper presents the design and integration of a two-digit robotic exoskeleton glove mechanism. The proposed glove is designed to assist the user with grasping motions, such as the pincer grasp, while maintaining a natural coupling relationship among the finger and thumb joints, resembling that of a normal human hand. The design employs single degree-of-freedom (DOF) linkage mechanisms to achieve active flexion and extension of the index finger and thumb. This greatly reduces the overall weight and size of the system making it ideal for prolonged usage. The paper describes the design, mathematical modeling of the proposed system, detailed electromechanical design, and software architecture of the integrated prototype. The prototype is capable of recording information about the index finger and thumb movements, interaction forces exerted by the finger/thumb on the exoskeleton, and can provide feedback through vibration. In addition, the glove can serve as a standalone device for rehabilitation purposes, such as assisting in achieving tip or pulp pinch. The paper concludes with an experimental validation of the proposed design by comparing the motion produced using the exoskeleton glove on a wooden mannequin with that of a natural human hand.

Research on mechanical design of a multi-function finger rehabilitation robot

“…As the finger bone rigid body model has 3 DOFs in bending/extending direction, the design with single DOF device can just drive the finger moving in a fixed trajectory. Refour designed a two-digit robotic exoskeleton glove mechanism, which adapts single DOF linkage mechanism to obtain bending/extending of the thumb and index finger [8] . Ma proposed a finger rehabilitation robot which is wireless, lightweight and easy to use [9] .…”

Latent Variable Grasp Prediction for Exoskeletal Glove Control

“…The functional requirements of a system in which the human operator and controlled system occupy the same space, such as with an exoskeletal glove, necessitate a means by which each system can physically influence the other to express their respective intents. An excellent strategy to achieve this is to make use of Series Elastic Actuators (SEA) to transmit force to the finger joints, such as in the Maestro [16], the work presented in [9], or our previous work and ongoing work presented in [17]. The user will be able to show their intended motion by deforming the elastic members in the SEAs and the glove will be able to precisely exert a force onto the user's hand to guide their motion.…”

Design Optimization of RML Glove for Improved Grasp Performance

“…In order to address the challenges faced by the state of the art gloves, Refour et al designed an exoskeleton glove [19], hereafter referred to as the RML Glove. The distinguishing factor of this design was the use of a linkage mechanism slim enough to fit between the fingers, resulting in a lightweight, low profile system.…”

“…In addition, each finger of the glove was designed to be a single degree of freedom (DoF) mechanism, allowing them to be actuated using a single motor while following a trajectory modelled after a healthy human hand. The design and the inner workings of the RML Glove are explained in detail in [19].…”

“…2. The kinematic modelling of the mechanism was originally conducted in [19] using multi-body modelling techniques. This same model is used to derive the analytical expressions as described below.…”