| With recent advances in myoelectric signal processing, powered prosthetic hands with myoelectric control have become more accepted among users of prosthetic hands. Inspite of this progress, the hands that are currently available have limited functionality and provide little or no sensory feedback to the user. Thus the user cannot control the forces exerted by the hand on an object being grasped. The objective of the myoelectric hand project at Rice University is to create a hand that has greater functionality and also the ability to sense and control the forces. In the research described in this thesis, a prosthetic hand that is capable of controlling the grasp strength is built. Force Sensitive Resistors manufactured by Interlink electronics are used to sense the forces. These sensors are installed at eleven likely locations of contact. The system demonstrated the ability to control the grasp forces. |
