Design and Development of Integrated Thick-Film Sensors for Prosthetic Hands

The majority of prosthetic hands lack an intelligent feedback control system requiring the user to rely on either visual feedback to detect whether an object is slipping out of the hand or if an unnecessarily large force is being applied. Screen printed thick film piezoresistive resistors and piezoelectric dynamic sensors offer a cheap and compact solution for detecting grip force and slip of an object from a prosthesis. This paper investigates the surface strain produced on two different fingertip designs with different attachment and loading methods in an attempt to optimise sensor position for maximum measurement sensitivity.