Robust Control of a Prosthetic Hand Finger

In this study, first, human hand anatomy is investigated dynamically. The tendon configuration of the fingers are also introduced and then modeled to imitate a real human hand index finger in the study because the actuating elements of the fingers are tendons on the phalanges. The prosthetic hand finger model is aimed to replace a real index finger of an amputated human. Therefore, artificial tendons will be used instead of joint motors in this study. Then the dynamic model of the prosthetic finger model is analyzed and a non-chattering robust sliding mode control is applied to have the model follow a certain trajectory. Trajectory planning of the finger model bases on the camera images of an opening motion of a human hand and time varying reference joint angles are obtained using the related images. Since there may be any problems in the model or on the trajectory path, in order to check the robust behavior of the controller, an unexpected sudden joint friction is induced on one of the joints on its way. At the end, the resultant prosthetic finger motion and the tendon forces produced are plotted and results are discussed.