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Regaining Sense of Touch: Artificial, Pressure-sensitive Skin for Hand Prosthetics

Ekman, Axel LU (2016) BMEM01 20161
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Abstract
A large portion of upper-limb prosthesis users are known to defer the use of electronic prostheses due to their high cost, considerable weight and lack of durability. Within this thesis, an approach to simple, low-cost pressure feedback systems is made. Using commercially available pressure sensors and rudimentary materials such as PDMS and polycarbonate plastic, a working prototype for pressure-sensitive skin was constructed and subsequently tested for several membrane thicknesses corresponding to the thicknesses of an artificial skin. While minor issues remain regarding stability and leakage, the system shows great potential for simple and sensitive pressure sensing units with fast response times. Aside from mechanosensory units, the... (More)
A large portion of upper-limb prosthesis users are known to defer the use of electronic prostheses due to their high cost, considerable weight and lack of durability. Within this thesis, an approach to simple, low-cost pressure feedback systems is made. Using commercially available pressure sensors and rudimentary materials such as PDMS and polycarbonate plastic, a working prototype for pressure-sensitive skin was constructed and subsequently tested for several membrane thicknesses corresponding to the thicknesses of an artificial skin. While minor issues remain regarding stability and leakage, the system shows great potential for simple and sensitive pressure sensing units with fast response times. Aside from mechanosensory units, the possibility of custom-made proprioceptors for prosthetic skin was also explored in the form of gold or copper strain gauges. All communication with the sensors was performed using an Arduino Nano unit programmed with a custom script included within this report and the data was collected and displayed using a custom LabView program. (Less)
Popular Abstract (Swedish)
Artificiell, Tryckkänslig Hud för Handproteser — Ett Första Steg

Majoriteten av de som använder hand- eller armproteser stöter ofta på ett flertal problem: proteserna är dyra, tunga, svåra att använda och onödigt komplicerade i dess konstruktion. Detta exkluderar de användare som söker efter en billig och enkel känselåterkoppling. Därför handlar detta arbete om att konstruera just en enkel, billig och intuitiv proteshud från lufttrycksgivare och vanliga material såsom PDMS och lättviktiga plaster.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ekman, Axel LU
supervisor
organization
course
BMEM01 20161
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Biomedical Engineering, Prostheses, Artificial Skin, Arduino, Haptic Feedback
language
English
additional info
2016-01
id
8596987
date added to LUP
2016-02-09 14:09:48
date last changed
2016-02-09 14:09:48
@misc{8596987,
  abstract     = {{A large portion of upper-limb prosthesis users are known to defer the use of electronic prostheses due to their high cost, considerable weight and lack of durability. Within this thesis, an approach to simple, low-cost pressure feedback systems is made. Using commercially available pressure sensors and rudimentary materials such as PDMS and polycarbonate plastic, a working prototype for pressure-sensitive skin was constructed and subsequently tested for several membrane thicknesses corresponding to the thicknesses of an artificial skin. While minor issues remain regarding stability and leakage, the system shows great potential for simple and sensitive pressure sensing units with fast response times. Aside from mechanosensory units, the possibility of custom-made proprioceptors for prosthetic skin was also explored in the form of gold or copper strain gauges. All communication with the sensors was performed using an Arduino Nano unit programmed with a custom script included within this report and the data was collected and displayed using a custom LabView program.}},
  author       = {{Ekman, Axel}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Regaining Sense of Touch: Artificial, Pressure-sensitive Skin for Hand Prosthetics}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}