Lu Haiqing, Zou Zhanan, Wu Xingli, Shi Chuanqian, Liu Yimeng, Xiao Jianliang
College of Mechanical Electrical and Vehicle Engineering, Weifang University, Weifang 261061, China.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Micromachines (Basel). 2021 Jun 23;12(7):736. doi: 10.3390/mi12070736.
As one of the most important prosthetic implants for amputees, current commercially available prosthetic hands are still too bulky, heavy, expensive, complex and inefficient. Here, we present a study that utilizes the artificial tendon to drive the motion of fingers in a biomimetic prosthetic hand. The artificial tendon is realized by combining liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) and liquid metal (LM) heating element. A joule heating-induced temperature increase in the LCE tendon leads to linear contraction, which drives the fingers of the biomimetic prosthetic hand to bend in a way similar to the human hand. The responses of the LCE tendon to joule heating, including temperature increase, contraction strain and contraction stress, are characterized. The strategies of achieving a constant contraction stress in an LCE tendon and accelerating the cooling for faster actuation are also explored. This biomimetic prosthetic hand is demonstrated to be able to perform complex tasks including making different hand gestures, holding objects of different sizes and shapes, and carrying weights. The results can find applications in not only prosthetics, but also robots and soft machines.
作为截肢者最重要的假肢植入物之一，目前市面上的假肢手仍然过于笨重、昂贵、复杂且效率低下。在此，我们展示了一项利用人工肌腱驱动仿生假肢手手指运动的研究。人工肌腱通过将液晶弹性体（LCE）和液态金属（LM）加热元件相结合来实现。焦耳热引起的LCE肌腱温度升高会导致线性收缩，从而驱动仿生假肢手的手指以类似于人类手部的方式弯曲。对LCE肌腱对焦耳热的响应，包括温度升高、收缩应变和收缩应力进行了表征。还探索了在LCE肌腱中实现恒定收缩应力以及加速冷却以实现更快驱动的策略。这种仿生假肢手被证明能够执行复杂任务，包括做出不同的手势、握持不同尺寸和形状的物体以及承载重量。这些结果不仅可应用于假肢领域，还可应用于机器人和软机器。
