2A1-D11 Study on the wearable hand assistive system using McKibben pneumatic artificial muscle

Abstract

This paper proposes the wearable hand support system in order to realize daily life support. Current prosthetics have some issues of wearability. At first, we focus the weight of wearable system. The actuator is one of the heaviest parts in wearable system. We propose to use the lightweight and compact size McKibben pneumatic artificial muscle. Besides, we estimate the model of McKibben pneumatic artificial muscle in order to reduce a number of pressure sensors. Second, we investigate variable fingertip stiffness to realize human finger dexterity and simulate by using our proposed polyarticular tendon drive system in previous study.