FLEXotendon Glove-III: Voice-Controlled Soft Robotic Hand Exoskeleton With Novel Fabrication Method and Admittance Grasping Control

Abstract

This article presents a voice-controlled soft robotic hand exoskeleton for hand assistance. Cervical spinal cord injury results in a disruption of the nerve signals, causing paralysis and limited upper extremity function. The impairment significantly limits the completion of activities of daily living (ADL) due to the importance of hand function. Recently, there has been an increase in hand exoskeleton studies to provide active assistance for effective ADL completion. However, the design, control, and user interface (UI) of the devices remain a challenging issue. This article proposes a novel fabrication method for the wearable glove using high consistency rubber silicone and biomimetic tendon routing. The developed glove provides a robust, deformable, and optimal-fitting design for an individual’s hand with a weight of 131 g and five-degree-of-freedom motion for various ADLs. It provides a pinch force of 6.3 N and an object-level admittance controller was implemented for virtual grasping modalities. A smartphone app-based voice UI was developed to provide a truly portable and intuitive control system. Grasping experiments with a healthy participant were conducted to evaluate the system.