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Analysis And Evaluation Of The Dynamic Performance Of Sma Actuators For Prosthetic Hand Design, Kevin O'Toole, Mark Mcgrath, Eugene Coyle
Analysis And Evaluation Of The Dynamic Performance Of Sma Actuators For Prosthetic Hand Design, Kevin O'Toole, Mark Mcgrath, Eugene Coyle
Articles
It is widely acknowledged within the biomedical engineering community that shape memory alloys (SMAs) exhibit great potential for application in the actuation of upper limb prosthesis designs. These lightweight actuators are particularly suitable for prosthetic hand solutions. A four-fingered, 12 degree-of-freedom prosthetic hand has been developed featuring SMA bundle actuators embedded within the palmar structure. Joule heating of the SMA bundle actuators generates sufficient torque at the fingers to allow a wide range of everyday tasks to be carried out. Transient characterization of SMA bundles has shown that performance/response during heating and cooling differs substantially. Natural convection is insufficient to …