A new approach to the prosthetic finger design

The main goal of this work is to provide an integrated design of artificial index finger and to present the result of utilizing advanced and smart materials such as shape memory alloys (SMA) in order to power the joints of the finger. Five NiTi wires were used, which enable flexible manipulation. The big advantages of the SMA are their incredible small size, volume and weight, their high force to weight ratio, their low cost and human-like behaviour. This work describes our implementation of one finger of a future biomechatronic hand. The finger was developed in the Robotics laboratory of the mechanical faculty at the Gdansk University of Technology, Poland.