Development of Cost Effective EMG Controlled Three Fingered Robotic Hand

One of the major problems confronted in the development of robotic hand prostheses is the achievement of electromyogram (EMG) based control in terms of grasping adaptability. Moreover prosthetic hands that have appeared in the market are out of the reach of common people because of high cost. In this paper, we report the development and control of a three fingered robotic hand motivated by these facts. The developed hand possess six degrees of freedom and can grasp oval, cuboid, circular and cylindrical objects with self adaptability. A grasp planner based on EMG signals commands the controller for actuating the hand opening and closing. In the grasp planner, a fuzzy classifier recognizes shoulder abduction and adduction based on the root mean square value of EMG. The control is through a proportional controller customized with position and touch sensors. The envisaged cost of the proposed hand would be appreciably low compared to most of the hands available in the market.