15 Experimental Analysis of the Proprioceptive and Exteroceptive Sensors of an Underactuated Prosthetic Hand

Abstract

The development of a prosthetic hand able to replicate as much as possible the grasping and sensory features of the natural hand represents an ambitious project for scientists. State of the art technology is still far to provide engineers with components with similar performance of their natural models, and active prosthetic hands can be only a pale replication of the missing natural limb. This paper presents the current research efforts towards the development of a self-adaptive and anthropomorphic prosthetic hand. In particular, the paper is focused on the problem of replicating the natural sensory system of the hand with an artificial proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensory system.