VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

JNANASANGAMA, BELAGAVI-590018

A Project Work Phase-II Report on

“Development and Implementation of Real-Time
Flex Sensor Based Prosthetic Hand”
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
ELECTRONICS AND INSTRUMENTATION ENGINEERING
For the Academic Year 2019-2020

SUBMITTED BY

AFIFA PARVEEN 1JS16EI001

ATISHAY M 1JS16EI007
JYOTHI S 1JS16EI010
NIKHITHA P RAO 1JS16EI018

Under the guidance of:

Dr. D. Mahesh Kumar
Assoc. Prof. & HOD
Dept. of E&IE., JSSATE

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & INSTRUMENTATION ENGINEERING

JSS ACADEMY OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION
DR. VISHNUVARDHAN ROAD, SRINIVASAPURA, BANGALORE-560060
 JSS MAHAVIDYAPEETHA
JSS ACADEMY OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION
DR. VISHNUVARDHAN ROAD, SRINIVASAPURA, BANGALORE-560060
KARNATAKA, INDIA.

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project work entitled “Development and Implementation of Real-
Time Flex Sensor Based Prosthetic Hand” is a bonafide work carried out by Ms. Afifa
Parveen [1JS16EI001], Mr. Atishay M [1JS16EI007], Ms. Jyothi S [1JS16EI010] and Ms.
Nikhitha P Rao [1JS16EI018] of VIII semester, in the partial fulfillment for the award of
degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Instrumentation under Visvesvaraya
Technological University, Belagavi, Karnataka, India during the academic year 2019-
2020. It is certified that all corrections/suggestions indicated have been incorporated in the
report. The project report has been approved as it satisfies the academic requirements for the
award of degree.

Signature of the Guide Signature of the HOD Signature of the Principal

Dr. D MAHESH KUMAR Dr. D MAHESH KUMAR Dr. Mrityunjaya V Latte
Assoc. Prof. & Head, Assoc. Prof. & Head, Principal
Dept. of E&IE. Dept. of E&IE. JSSATE, Bengaluru
JSSATE, Bengaluru JSSATE, Bengaluru

External Viva
Name of the Examiners Signature with Date
1.
2.
 JSS MAHAVIDYAPEETHA
JSS ACADEMY OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION
DR. VISHNUVARDHAN ROAD, SRINIVASAPURA, BANGALORE-560060
KARNATAKA, INDIA.

DECLARATION
We, Ms. Afifa Parveen [1JS16EI001], Mr. Atishay M [1JS16EI007], Ms. Jyothi S
[1JS16EI010] and Ms. Nikhitha P Rao [1JS16EI018] of VIII semester, Electronics and
Instrumentation Engineering, JSS Academy of Technical Education, Bangalore, declare that
the project work entitled “Development and Implementation of Real-Time Flex Sensor Based
Prosthetic Hand” has been carried out by us and submitted in the partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Instrumentation
under Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi, Karnataka, India for the year
2019-20. The matter embodied in this report has not been submitted to ant other university or
institution for the award of any other degree or diploma.

Afifa Parveen [1JS16EI001]

Atishay M [1JS16EI007]
Jyothi S [1JS16EI010]
Nikhitha P Rao [1JS16EI018]
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to express our profound gratefulness to his holiness Jagadguru Sri Sri
Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra Mahaswamiji for providing an opportunity to carry out
our academics in this auspicious college and an opportunity to present this Project Work
Phase-II report.

We would like to take immense pleasure in thanking Dr. Mrityunjaya V Latte,

Principal, JSS Academy of Technical Education, for giving the best facilities which
helped us in satisfactory completion of this work.

We extend our immense pleasure in thanking Dr. D Mahesh Kumar, Head of the
Department, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, for providing us cheerful
encouragement to carry out our work.

We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to Dr. D Mahesh Kumar, Head of the
Department, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, for the constant
encouragement, valuable suggestions and assistance in every possible way.

We are thankful to our project coordinator Mrs. Sowmya M S, Assistant Professor,

Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, for her continuous
cooperation and support.

We would like to thank all our teaching and non-teaching staff of E&IE department for
providing us with their valuable guidance.

Lastly, we take this opportunity to extend our full hearted thanks, gratitude and respect to
our parents and friends, for giving us valuable advices and support at all times in all
possible ways.
Afifa Parveen [1JS16EI001]
Atishay.M [1JS16EI007]
Jyothi.S [1JS16EI010]
Nikhitha.P.Rao [1JS16EI018]

i
 ABSTRACT

People who lose their limbs suffer from psychological and physical difficulties
due to their inability to use their extremities. They depend on others for help in their
daily activities. On a survey it’s has been recorded that there are more than 1 million
annual limb amputations globally. In order to provide a quality life with independence
and freedom to the amputees for performing their daily activities, prosthesis was
developed. Advancement in technology has improved their abilities, independence
and overall quality of life. Hence, this project intends towards the development of a
real-time flex sensor based Prosthetic Hand to serve amputees. Currently different
types of prosthetic arms with different control techniques have been developed and
are around the global market. The proposed project involves a glove control technique
for the control of the arm motion, where flex sensors are incorporated on the glove to
give the gesture input to the prosthetic arm for required motion.

Thus the results are experimentally validated by measuring real-time

variations by phantom mimicking the properties of human hand. Monitoring and
control of the rotation of prosthetic arm is therefore demonstrated using glove control
and the action is facilitated by the actuators interfaced. The main purpose of the
project is to demonstrate the feasibility of using 3-D printing technology in the design
of a low cost, user convenient prosthetic hand for the helping the amputees perform
the activities in which the use of both the hands is necessary. It helps the disabled in
acquiring the functional replacement for their disabled body part by typically
providing supplement to defective body parts.

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 CONTENTS

Topics Page No.

ACKNOWLEGEMENT i
ABSTRACT ii
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES iii
1. CHAPTER-1
Introduction 1
1.1 Motivation 3
1.2 Amputation 4
1.3 Prosthetic Hand 5
1.4 Objectives of the Proposed Work 6
1.5 Organisation of the Report 6
2. CHAPTER-2
Literature survey 7
3. CHAPTER-3
Methodology 11
3.1 Review of Prosthesis Design 11
3.2 Block Diagram 11
4. CHAPTER-4
Design and Implementation 15
4.1 3D Prosthetic Hand Design and Assembly 15
4.1.1 3D Designs 16
4.1.2 Assembly 18
4.2 Implementation 23
5. CHAPTER-5
Hardware and Software Description 25
5.1 Hardware Requirements 25
5.1.1 Microcontrollers 25
5.1.1.1 Arduino Mega 2560 25
5.1.1.2 Arduino Nano 26
5.1.2 Flex Sensor 26
5.1.3 Actuator 29
 5.1.4 MPU6050 Gyroscope 31
5.1.5 nRF24L01 Wireless Transceiver 32
5.1.6 3D Printing 33
5.2 Software Requirements 35
5.2.1 Arduino IDE 35
5.2.2 Docklight 35
6. CHAPTER-6
Results and discussion 36
7. CHAPTER-7
Conclusion & Scope for future work 41
References and Bibliography 42
Appendix A 44
Appendix B 46
Appendix C 48
Appendix D 49
Appendix E 51
 LIST OF FIGURES

1. Figure 1.1 Amputees in India 1

2. Figure 1.2 Distribution of amputees 1

3. Figure 1.3 Problems faced by amputees 3

4. Figure 1.4 Overcoming difficulties 4

5. Figure 1.5 Use of prosthetic arm 4

6. Figure 1.6 Amputation 5

7. Figure 1.7 Amputation in birth 5

8. Figure 1.8 Amputation due to accidents 5

9. Figure 1.9 Prosthetic Hand 5

10. Figure 2.1 Different types of control 7

11. Figure 3.1 Prosthetic hand imitating human hand 11

12. Figure 3.2 Block diagram of wireless prosthetic hand 12

system

13. Figure 3.3 Flex sensor forming voltage divider circuit & 13
Vout read by Arduino
14. Figure 4.1 3D sketch of index finger, thumb finger, palm 16
and finger connectors

15. Figure 4.2 3D sketch of wrist parts 16

16. Figure 4.3 3D sketches of: (a) forearm top cover; (b) 17
forearm base cover
17. Figure 4.4 3D sketch of (a) servo bed; (b) servo pulleys/ 17
servo caps
18. Figure 4.5 3D sketch of string support 18

19. Figure 4.6 Finger assembly 18

20. Figure 4.7 Thumb assembly 19

21. Figure 4.8 Palm assembly 19

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22. Figure 4.9 Left hand assembly using 3D printed fingers, 19
finger connectors and palm

23. Figure 4.10 Wrist assembly 19

24. Figure 4.11 Wrist assembly top and side view 20

25. Figure 4.12 Forearm cover assembly 20

26. Figure 4.13 Servo bed assembly 20

27. Figure 4.14 Servo motor assembly 21

28. Figure 4.15 String connection with servo motors 21

29. Figure 4.16 Left hand assembly 22

30. Figure 4.17 Forearm assembly 22

31. Figure 4.18 Hand and forearm assembly 22

32. Figure 4.19 Flowchart for the transmitter 23

33. Figure 4.20 Flowchart for the receiver 24

34. Figure 5.1 Arduino mega 2560 25

35. Figure 5.2 Arduino Nano 26

36. Figure 5.3 Flex sensor 26

37. Figure 5.4a Flex sensor with conductive particle further 27

apart 70kΏ

38. Figure 5.4b Flex sensor with conductive particle further 27

apart 30kΏ

39. Figure 5.4c Flex sensor pin connection 28

40. Figure 5.4d Single flex sensor interfaced with the 28

controller board

41. Figure 5.4e Flex sensor array for 5 fingers hand 28

42. Figure 5.5 Servomotor 29

43. Figure 5.6a Working principle of servomotor 30

44. Figure 5.6b PWM signal pulse of servomotor 30

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45. Figure 5.6c Circuit connection for servomotor to the 31
Arduino Nano board

46. Figure 5.7 MPU6050 gyroscope 32

47. Figure 5.8 nRF24L01 wireless transceiver 32

48. Figure 5.9 nRF24L01 module connection with Arduino 33

Nano board

49. Figure 5.10 3D printer 33

50. Figure 5.11 3D design of hand prototype 34

51. Figure 6.1 Glove controller 36

52. Figure 6.2 3D printed prosthetic hand 37

53. Figure A.1 Pin out of Arduino mega 2560 45

54. Figure B.1 Pin out of Arduino Nano 47

55. Figure D.1 Circuit connection for MPU6050 with 50

Arduino board

56. Figure D.2 Orientation and polarity of rotation of 50

MPU6050

57. Figure E.1 Circuit connection for nRF24L01 with 51

Arduino board

LIST OF TABLES

1. Table 6.1 Reliability performance of control glove 43

2. Table 6.2 Different actions performed by the prosthetic 45

arm

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

On a recent survey conducted in India, it is recorded that there are about 0.62
[1]
amputees per thousand population . Figure 1.1 depicts the amputation rate in India,
conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization, which accounts to 8% of the
total loco motor disability. The cause for these amputations might be due to diseases such
as blood vessel diseases, diabetes, tumors, etc. and also due to injuries or accidents. Due
to the amputation caused, not only the patient suffers but it is also a huge burden for their
family members. Though the amputees are strong enough, the society will treat them
different, making them feel alone. All these people are unable to perform their regular
work due to the loss of their limb and mostly depend on others for help. It would be a
very difficult task for them to always depend on others; hence prosthesis can be used in
order to replace the loss.

Figure 1.1: Amputees in India

Figure 1.2: Distribution of amputees

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Figure 1.2 depicts the amputation rate based on the age of people and we can observe
that the majority of the amputations occur in the middle aged people, either due to
accidents or other diseases.

Currently, different types of prosthetic arms with different control techniques, such as
Electromyography (EMG) sensors, Electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors, etc., are
developed and are available around the global market. In the above mentioned control
techniques acquiring the signals and processing of the input signals are most certainly a
tedious process and also its very difficult task to obtain accurate output. The prosthesis
available in the market involving the above mentioned control techniques are of high cost
and are not affordable by many.

The paper proposes an electronically controlled prosthesis to replace the loss by

enabling amputees perform the activities that the original limb would perform. Relatively
it avoids their dependency on others.

Robotic arms are also available in the market which is used to compensate the loss, but
considering the economic status of the people, it would be very difficult for most of the
people to afford it, as the robotic arm would cost around lakhs of rupees. Hence this paper
proposes a flex sensor based prosthetic arm which is available at a very low price and
affordable for everyone.

In order to design the prosthetic arm, the work makes use of 3D printing technology.
The use of 3D printing technology has an advantage of ease of design with respect to the
patients need, faster rate of production and with considerable cost the hand would be
printed.

The actions to be performed by the 3D printed prosthetic arms are controlled by a glove
controller. The proposed work makes use of flex sensors to obtain the movement of the
fingers made by the human hand and this information is sent to the microcontroller to
imitate the working of the hand, thereby the prosthetic arm will perform the operation
performed by the human hand. All the actions performed by the human hand would be
transferred to the prosthetic hand with the help of wireless communication system. Servo
motors are present in the prosthetic hand to make the movements of the finger and a

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gyroscope is present to control the movements of the wrist, thereby functioning as an

original hand. By the use of this, the amputee would be able to grasp objects and also in
lifting of heavy objects without the help of any. The aforementioned design would be able
to mimic the functioning of a human hand and would be dexterous with an easy and
natural control, available at an affordable cost.

1.1 MOTIVATION

The first and foremost reason for the development of the prosthetic hand is due to the
cost. In a developing country like India, it would be difficult for the people to afford to
buy prosthetic hands which are very costly. As shown in the graph in figure 1.2, we can
observe that almost equal rates of amputations occurring in the rural and urban areas.
Considering the income rates of the rural people, it would be highly impossible for them
to buy the available prosthetic hands. Hence, we have designed a low cost prosthetic
hand. Amputees also face phantom pain where the part of the limb is absent. As the
society treats them in a different way, they may even enter into the stage of depression.
They also face psychological and emotional difficulties in adjusting to the life. As stated
earlier, people find it difficult to perform all the tasks individually, as observed in the
figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3: Problems faced by amputees

We can also find many people who are talented and overcome their problems as
depicted in the figures 1.4 below. Thus, prosthesis can be used by them to overcome their
difficulties, helping the people perform their daily chores and also help people achieve

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their goals. It can also help them to face the society and get rid of their depression. Figure
1.5 shows the use of prosthesis to overcome all the difficulties, thereby leading an
independent life.

Figure 1.4: Overcoming difficulties

Figure 1.5: Use of prosthetic arm

1.2 AMPUTATION

Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a

surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such
as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventive
surgery for such problems. Amputation can also occur by birth or due to accidents as
shown in figures 1.7 and 1.8 respectively.

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Figure 1.6: Amputation

Figure 1.7: Amputations in birth Figure 1.8: Amputation due to accidents

1.3 PROSTHETIC HAND

A prosthesis or prosthetic implant is an artificial device that replaces a missing body

part, which may be lost through trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth
(congenital disorder). Prosthesis are intended to restore the normal functions of the
missing body part. Prosthesis can be designed by hand or with Computer-Aided
Design (CAD) software.

Figure 1.9: Prosthetic hand

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1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSED WORK

The proposed work aims to design, develop and implement a Prosthetic arm for the
amputees involving

 Real-time flex sensor-based glove controlled prosthetic arm.

 Usage of 3D printing technology to print the prosthetic arm.

Finally, to produce a cost effective, fully functional prosthetic hand for all.

1.5 ORGANISATION OF THE REPORT

Chapter 1: Gives the introduction about the project that includes the problem statement,
motivation, meaning of amputation & prosthetic hand and the objectives.

Chapter 2: Contains brief details of various papers and work done by various authors on
similar topics.

Chapter 3: Describes the methodology used, explaining the techniques used for the
project.

Chapter 4: Explains the design and implementation along with work flow carried out in
order to complete the project.

Chapter 5: Describes the specifications of the hardware and software components and
how it is used in the project.

Chapter 6: Gives the detailed explanation of the results of the project.

Chapter 7: Tells about the future scope of the project.

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE SURVEY

There are a lot of prosthetic hand designs around the world. Some prosthetic
hands differ in the sensors used, some in the materials with which they are built and some
with the methodology as depicted in the figure 2.1. These prosthetic hands are costly,
harder to use since the design and usage is very complex. There are few papers below
which shows how similar or different is our paper from them.

Figure 2.1: Different types of control

In the paper [2], the proposed methodology has two ways to replicate the human
hand movement one is by flex sensor which is incorporated in a glove is used, it sense the
finger movement and the other one is by Electromyography (EMG) sensor connected to
the muscles of the amputee. The main disadvantage here is that it is very difficult to sense
and process an EMG signal.

[3] Proposes the use of force feedback actuation system in order to drive the
motors to control the movement of the fingers. Feedback actuation mechanism is
integrated to myoelectric band on residual limb and the sensor is designed based on

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biomimetic strategy. 3D printed structure is integrated onto a surface. The drawbacks of

this system is that it exhibits only linear characteristics and is difficult to handle with non-
linear motions.

In [4], the proposed methodology has a particle board frame which has the whole
circuit. This can add to the prosthetic hand being bulkier. And the prosthetic arm has a
claw shaped arm, which don’t serve the purpose of making it look exactly like an arm so
that the amputees feel comfortable wearing it.

In the paper [5], the proposed methodology uses optical waveguides which is very
costly. Optoelectronic strain sensors used here are susceptible to interference from
environmental effects. A solenoid valve used in this system requires the control signal
continuously, and this signal is difficult to provide on a continuous basis.

The paper [6] mainly proposes about the 3D printing technology and the materials
used to develop prosthetic hand. In children, the growth period would bring a lot of
physical changes which is challenging, in order to adapt to those changes, the 3D printed
prosthetic hand was designed accordingly in here. So, prosthetic hand can be designed
and developed faster using 3D printing technology and also to get a better quality,
creative design and freedom to customize.

The proposed methodology in [7] uses a silicon rubber material for the body of the
arm which is soft and recovers the shape after removing the pressure applied to it.
Piezoelectric transducer is used to sense the finger movements. Fabrication process is
tedious. Embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator is used to provide the movement
which is made of Ni-Ti strip. This Ni-Ti strip picks up false signals as they are very
sensitive.

The proposed methodology in [8] uses accelerometers to control the movement of

the prosthetic arm and also provides the information on the orientation of limb segments.
Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is used which is a combination of accelerometer,
gyroscope and magnetometers. EMG sensor is used to sense the contractions of the

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muscles. But the major disadvantage is that the prosthetic arm developed is very heavy
and as well as slower in operation and hard to use.

In the paper [9], the proposed methodology contains a prosthetic arm whose
movement can be controlled by voice. This is actually a big step in the advancement of
technology, but it has its own disadvantages. Since the prosthetic arm is voice controlled,
it causes problems in the noisy environment. Sometimes the prosthetic arm might have
delayed response than the glove controlled prosthetic arm. And the major disadvantage is
that is requires constant internet connection since it’s using Google’s API to convert
voice commands into to text.

In [10], the proposed methodology has only one actuator to control the prosthetic
hand with five finger multi grip pattern which helps to perform daily activities. But the
size of the actuator is very big. The grasp of the fingers is not stable.

In the paper [11], controlling of the prosthetic hand is done through Brain
Computer Interface (BCI). The signals are recorded through the emotive
Electroencephalograph (EEG) headset. EEG is integrated with Graphical User Interface
(GUI) and designed using LabVIEW. It has lot of disadvantages as the range of functions
performed is limited and has to be trained to perform the required functions and a lot of
disturbances occur in data due to artifacts.

In the proposed project [12], logic functions are developed in order to set angle of
rotation. Servo motors are used to determine the finger movements that are controlled via
Wi-Fi module. Android application is developed for the control of prosthetic arm and the
system is controlled manually using mobile control framework. The proposed work,
makes use of android application to choose gesture. The disadvantage here is that it is
restricted to specific angles and entire unit should be connected to Wi-Fi network.

Paper [13] deals with the grasp, finite element modeling and the tensile test
performed on ABS and PLA materials (3D printing). Comparison between human hand
and prosthetic hand is done to see grasp of fingers on the spherical, cylindrical and cubic

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objects. Finite element model is a tool used to analyze the contact between prosthetic
fingers and the objects. The mechanical properties of the materials used for 3D printing
like ABS and PLA are mentioned to be checked by applying load. The disadvantage of
the proposed work is that it is limited to perform only three functions and there is failure
in analysis of the functioning of the arm.

In the work proposed in [14], servo motors are used for rotation which generates
constant pulse width modulations (PWM). Flex sensors are used to sense the motion of
finger and an ATmega8 microcontroller is used to analyze bend of finger. Four channel
oscilloscope is used to obtain the waveform. Servo driver and servo module are connected
via serial communication. Power transistor in emitter follower is used to deliver current.
The disadvantage is that sensors with high degrees of repeatability, precision and
reliability should be used.

In the work proposed in [15], design of prosthetic arm is done by capturing

tomographic images using CAD software. Blender software is used to compare affected
and not affected arm and functions are performed accordingly. The disadvantage is that
obtaining the same replica of the functional hand is difficult and requires excess material
deposition.

In the proposed paper [16], flex sensors in the glove gives the input signal. Servo
motors are the actuators used for movement of fingers and Peltier plates are used to give
cooling effect. LM35 is used to obtain the surroundings temperature. The disadvantages
are that it has lesser degrees of freedom and very low grip force necessary for holding
objects.

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CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Review on Prosthesis design:

Human body is a remarkable formation of god, definite replication of the human body
parts misleadingly, albeit conceivable can't coordinate the extraordinary versatility and
adaptability that a human hand shows. As we looked profound into the life systems and
physiology of the human hand, we comprehended that it was a mind boggling and a
flexible structure. Anatomically it was conceivable to plan and collect the parts,
physiology of the human hand was a difficult piece of the venture, yet the goal of the
undertaking was accomplished.

In the Figure 3.1 underneath we can unmistakably perceive how the human hand
is anatomically recreated into a 3-D printed prosthetic hand. The ligament association in
the prosthetic fingers is comparative as that of a typical human hand. Since a solitary,
ceaselessly running ligament is associated per finger, smooth breathtaking twist isn't
precisely acquired however physiological variables are gotten sufficiently. It is
conceivable to give extra degrees of opportunity to the prosthetic arm, which is one of the
major added advantage in the prosthesis development.

Figure 3.1: Prosthetic Hand imitating Human Hand

3.2 Block diagram:

This proposed venture comprises of a wearable glove as a controller, which is utilized to

control the activities or to give the controlled contributions to request to get the ideal
movements appropriately in the prosthetic arm. As seen beneath, Prosthetic Hand System

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comprises of two significant parts the 'glove' and the 'prosthetic arm'. A pair of
'nRF24L01', wireless transceiver modules were utilized to build up to establish wireless
communication network among the glove controller and the prosthetic arm.

Figure 3.2: Block diagram of wireless Prosthetic Hand System

As observed above in the Figure 3.2, we can see isolate frameworks are being
connected over a remote correspondence organize comprising of nRF24L01 single chip
RF handset modules, working at a recurrence of 2.4GHz ISM band, supporting 250kbps
up to 2 Mbps. It imparts around a 4-pin Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI). The two
frameworks of the task has been talked about underneath separately.

 Glove controller:

Towards the transmitter end we have the glove controller, the controller is
fundamentally a type of wearable Human Machine Interface (seen as client and wearable
glove in Figure 3.2), and the machine/prosthetic arm on the receiver end follows the
control signals or info signals from the human wearing the glove controller.
“

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The glove involves five flex sensors being embedded upon each finger to gather
the information of each of the fingers position respectively. Flex sensors are usually a
variable resistors which are used give the change in the resistance when bending or
deflection action occurs, which is later read in terms of voltage with the help of voltage
divider circuit rigged up over the glove on a PCB. Along with the flex sensors an
accelerometer-gyroscope module is located near the wrist to read and measure the
angular, as well as directional variations and to mimic the same action along the
prosthetic arm. An Arduino Mega with a ATMEGA2560 microcontroller is the control &
”

processor board used in the glove controller, to processes the input data from the flex
sensors with the help of Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) present in the Arduino mega
board, which converts the analog input to digital output data and these digital output
obtained correspondingly are sent to the Arduino Nano through nRF24L01 wireless
communication network that was established for further processing to obtain the desired
output.

Figure 3.3: Flex sensor forming voltage divider circuit & V out read by Arduino

 Prosthetic hand:

The digital input data received from the Arduino Mega through the nRF24L01
transceiver module is converted into corresponding Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
signals accordingly. These signals obtained are in-turn used to serve as the controlling
data signal for the rotation of the servomotors accordingly. There are six servo motors,
“

five for fingers and one for the wrist motion. The wrist motion is restricted to 45 degrees

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in normal human hand same way the 6th servo motor is also restricted to 45 degrees action
only. The KK-77 strings were used to connect the fingers to the servos caps to drive the
fingers to obtain the required finger movements and to act as the artificial tendons,
present in the human fingers. Thus synchronous movement of each finger is said to be
”

obtained with the given respective input data and the servo pulleys actions are seen
accordingly. The Arduino Nano board is control and processing unit used in the prosthetic
arm. An external power supply was used to give power to the servos.

“ All the parts of the prosthetic arm were discretely printed using 3-D printer & the
material used for 3-D printing was PLA. The designs for the hand was sketched
separately using the CAD software. ”

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CHAPTER 4

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

4.1 3D PROSTHETIC HAND DESIGN AND ASSEMBLY:

The use of 3d printing and its advantages as stated earlier has enabled us to design
a low-cost prosthetic hand. In this chapter we would be explaining about how each part of
the hand is made and the necessary things done in order to assemble the complete hand.

4.1.1 3D designs:

Polylactide (PLA) material is used to print the prosthetic hand and has dimensions
of about 49 cm in length and 10.5 cm in width.

Development of prosthetic hand begins with designing 3D sketches in the

computer using Computer Aided Design (CAD) tool. The design of prosthetic hand
consists of forearm, palm, little finger, ring finger, middle finger, index finger, thumb
finger and the base structure. Each of these parts is designed separately and printed and
assembled. Figure 4.1 shows the 3D sketches of fingers, palm and finger connectors
designed using CAD tool. Individual finger has one degree of freedom. Each finger
consists of six parts, which after printing are interconnected to form a finger.

Figure 4.2 to 4.5 shows the 3D sketches of various parts designed using the CAD
system. Servomotor bed is the fixed inside forearm to accommodate five servomotors.
The servomotors control each finger movement using strings which are connected to the
fingertips. The strings connect the fingertips to the servomotor by means of servo pulleys.
The 3D designs of middle finger, ring finger and little finger are similar to index finger in
shape except for their size. Figure 4.1 shows 3D printed fingers towards the left we see
the design for Thumb and towards the right we see the index finger’s design (same design
with different size is used to print other four fingers), next we see the palm and finger
connectors.

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Figure 4.1: 3D sketches for index finger, thumb finger, palm and finger connectors

Figure 4.2: 3D sketches for wrist parts

The wrist of the prosthetic hand is designed to move, for which a separate
servomotor wrist assembly is designed inside the wrist. Figure 4.2 shows 3D sketch of the

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wrist assembly. Whenever the gyroscope detects rotational movement servomotor at the
wrist runs to rotate the wrist.

(a) (b)

Figure 4.3: 3D sketches of: (a) forearm top cover; (b) forearm base cover

Figure 4.3 (a) shows the CAD design 3D sketches of forearm top cover, forearm
base cover. Servomotor bed and servomotor pulleys along with parts which helps in the
string alignment 3D designs are shown in the below pictures.

(a) (b)

Figure 4.4: 3D sketch of (a) servo bed; (b) servo pulleys/ servo caps

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Figure 4.5: 3D sketch of string support

These 3D designs for building the prosthetic hand are based on the left hand and
forearm designs given in InMoov website.

4.1.2 Assembly:

Figure 4.6 to Figure 4.8 illustrates the assembly of finger, thumb and palm using
3D sketches. Figure 4.9 shows the assembly of the left-hand using 3D printed fingers,
finger connectors and palm. Figure 4.10 shows the wrist assembly using 3D sketches.
Figure 4.11 shows 3D printed wrist assembly’s top and side view. Figure 4.12 to Figure
4.14 shows the forearm cover assembly, servo bed assembly and servomotor assembly
using 3D sketches. Figure 4.1.2.10 shows 3D printed servomotor assembly.

Figure 4.6: Finger assembly

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Figure 4.7: Thumb assembly Figure 4.8: Palm assembly

Figure 4.9: Left-hand assembly using 3D printed fingers, finger connectors and palm

Figure 4.10: Wrist assembly

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Figure 4.11 Wrist assembly top view and side view

Figure 4.12: Forearm cover assembly

Figure 4.13: Servo bed assembly

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Figure 4.14: Servomotor assembly

The strings made of nylon are used as artificial tendons of the prosthetic hand.
Figure 4.15 shows servomotors at the base controls each finger using strings. The shaft of
each servomotor is connected to the fingertips using servo pulley, where the strings are
connected, allowing a synchronous movement of each finger with its respective
servomotor.

Figure 4.15: String connection with the servomotors

Complete assembly of left hand of the prosthetic hand as shown in Figure 4.16
and Figure 4.17. Design is made to ensure that servomotors can control the fingers using
strings and these strings goes through the fingers connecting the tip of the fingers to the
servomotor. The printed pieces were smoothened and re-drilled to ensure smooth
movement. Figure 4.18 shows the completed prosthetic hand ready for operation.

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Figure 4.16: Left Hand Assembly Figure 4.17: Forearm assembly

Figure 4.18: Hand and Forearm assembly

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4.2 IMPLEMENTATION:

As seen earlier the designed Prosthetic arm system consists of two separate parts,
the ‘Glove controller’ which forms the transmitter end to provide input signals and the
‘Prosthetic hand’ forming the receiving end whose output is to be observed. Both the
systems are controlled and processed using respective microcontrollers, implementation
of these two systems are discussed below in detail.

Figure 4.19: Flow chart for the transmitter

Figure 4.19 depicts the process flow at the transmitter. The transmission takes
place with the help of nRF24 wireless transceiver module. The flex sensors (provides
different voltage values for the different finger positions) and the gyroscope module’s
(provides wrist angle) analog input values are read accordingly by the microcontroller in
the glove controller. On powering the Arduino, these values from the sensors which are
read are later processed, then are converted into digital values by the analog to digital
converter present in the microcontroller. The digitized values are then transmitted to the
receiver end continuously for the action to be performed by the prosthetic hand. This

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process takes place repeatedly unless there is a loss of power to the Arduino
microcontroller.

Figure 4.20: Flow chart for the receiver

Figure 4.20 describes the process flow at prosthetic arm/ receiver. On powering
the microcontroller, it acquires all the values transmitted from the nRF24 in the
transmission side. These digital values are converted into a pulse modulated waveform by
the pulse width modulator present in the microcontroller. The pulse width modulated
waveforms control the rotating angles of the servo motor. In order to control the rotating
angles of the servo motor, two threshold values were set based on the flex sensor values.
The change in the angle to of the servo motor takes place if the value obtained is lesser
than or equal to the threshold value 1 or if the obtained value is lesser than the threshold
value 2 accordingly. This process repeats until any one of the conditions is satisfied and
there by the servo motors rotate and performs the required action as performed by the
glove controller.

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CHAPTER 5

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION

5.1 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:

The proposed prosthetic hand is an embedded system with subcomponents like

central control unit, sensors to get inputs to the system and actuators to perform the
necessary actions of the hand. The hardware requirements for the prosthetic hand are
discussed.

5.1.1 Microcontrollers:
5.1.1.1 Arduino Mega 2560:

The Arduino Mega microcontroller is the control unit for the glove. ATmega2560
microcontroller has 70 I/O pins, and a USB type B connector for programming. Figure
5.1 shows the Arduino Mega board. The Arduino Mega2560 can be powered via an
external power supply or with the USB connection. An AC-to-DC adapter or battery can
be used as external power source. A 2.1 mm center-positive jack adapter is required to
connect into the board’s power jack or a battery is connected in the GND and V in pin
headers of the power connector. While the recommended voltage range is 7 to 12V, it can
be operated safely on an external supply of 6 to 20V. The detailed specification of signals
of the Microcontroller and Arduino Mega board are placed in the Appendix A.

Figure 5.1: Arduino Mega 2560

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5.1.1.2 Arduino Nano:

Arduino Nano microcontroller is the control unit for the prosthetic hand.
Figure 5.2 shows the Arduino Nano board. The Arduino Nano is a small, complete, and
breadboard-friendly board based on the ATmega328 with 14 digital pins, 8 analog Pins, 2
Reset Pins & 6 Power Pins. It lacks only a DC power jack, and works with a Mini-B USB
connection, 6-20V unregulated external power supply (pin 30), or 5V regulated external
power supply (pin 27). The power source is automatically selected to the highest voltage
source. The ATmega328 has 32 KB, (also with 2 KB used for the boot loader). The
ATmega328 has 2 KB of SRAM and 1 KB of EEPROM. The detailed specification of the
Arduino Nano board is placed in the Appendix B.

Figure 5.2: Arduino Nano

5.1.2 Flex Sensor:

A flex sensor is a variable resistor, whose resistance varies as the sensor body is
bent, more the bend more the change in resistance. This property is utilized to detect the
physical movement of the object under observation. Figure 5.3 shows a flex sensor of 4.5
inch.

Figure 5.3: Flex sensor of 4.5 inch

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Working principle of the sensor involves a polymer ink printed on one side of the
sensor body that has conductive particles in it. When the sensor is kept straight, the ink
provides a low resistance of about 30KΩ, and when the sensor is bent away from the ink,
the conductive particles move further apart, increasing the resistance to about 70KΩ, as
shown in the Figure 5.4(a). When the sensor is unbent, the resistance returns to the low
resistance value, as shown in the Figure 5.4(b). By measuring the resistance, the amount
of the bend can be determined. A voltage divider circuit is used to detect the change in
resistance. By connecting the flex sensor with a fixed resistor, a voltage divider circuit is
created and the change in voltage is read by the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) of the
microcontroller.

Figure 5.4(a): Flex sensor with conductive particle further apart - 70KΩ (High resistance)

Figure 5.4(b): Flex sensor with conductive particle further apart - 30KΩ (Low resistance)

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Figure 5.4(c) shows the pin connection of the flex sensor. A flex sensor acting as a
variable resistor and a static resistor of 22KΩ form a voltage divider network, as shown in
the Figure 5.4(d) and the variable voltage is detected by the analog input A0 of the
controller. Similarly, a 5-flex sensor array is created, one for each finger and the signal is
connected to the ADC of the controller, as shown in the Figure 5.4(e).

Figure 5.4(c): Flex sensor pin connection

Figure 5.4(d): Single flex sensor interface with the controller board.

Figure 5.4(e): 5 Flex sensor array for 5 fingers of hand

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5.1.3 Actuator

An actuator is an electro-mechanical device that converts electric current in to

motion, used for controlled movement of a mechanism or system. Other sources of
energy can be pneumatic, or hydraulic. Servomotors act as the actuators in the proposed
work.

A servomotor is an electro-mechanical device used to move or rotate an object at

particular angle accurately. It is made up of DC or AC motor which runs through servo
mechanism, which can provide high torque in a small package. Servomotors are being
used in many applications like RC helicopters and planes, toy cars, Robotics, machine
etc.

The position of the servomotor shaft is determined by electrical pulse and its
circuitry is place beside the motor body. Figure 5.5 shows a servomotor used in robotic
arm drive mechanism.

Working principle of a servomotor involves a DC motor, a potentiometer and a

controlling circuit, as shown in Figure 5.6(a), which is used to increase torque and reduce
Rotation Per Minute (RPM) of the servomotor. At the initial position of the shaft there is
no positional feedback from the potentiometer.

Figure 5.5 Servomotor

The error signal is provided as the input for motor and motor starts rotating. The
potentiometer is connected with motor shaft and as motor starts rotating, a signal is
generated at the potentiometer. As the angular position of potentiometer changes, its
output feedback signal changes to a point where output of the potentiometer becomes

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equal to external signal from the microcontroller. The error signal applied to the motor
becomes zero and the motor stops rotating. Thus, servomotor control is achieved by
applying voltage to the supply terminals and control signal to the signal terminal of the
motor. The angle of rotation of servomotor controlled by the duration of applied pulse of
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) signal applied to its control pin. Servomotor can turn 90 o
from either direction from its neutral position.

Figure 5.6(a): Working principle of Servomotor

Every 20ms a pulse is sent to servomotor and the angle of rotation is determined
by the length of the pulse. For instance, the motor shaft turns to 90 o position if the control
pulse is of 1.5ms i.e., shaft moves to 0o, if the pulse is shorter than 1.5ms and it will turn
the shaft to 180o, if it is longer than 1.5ms. A servomotor can rotate from 0 o to 180o, but it
can go up to 210o. Input pulse and the output shaft angle is shown in Figure 5.6(b).

Figure 5.6(b): PWM signal pulse of servomotor

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The prosthetic hand system has 6 servomotors, one for each finger and one for the
wrist movement. The servomotor used in the proposed work is TowerPro MG995,
specification is placed in Appendix C.

Figure 5.6(c) shows the servomotor interfacing for one motor, with the controller
powered by the Arduino Nano board. The control signal to the servomotor is provided by
the PWM signal of the controller board. As the Arduino Nano board does not provide
enough current to drive 6 servomotors in the system, an external power supply is used.
Each servomotor is connected to PWM pin which controls servomotor by providing
signals.

Figure 5.6(c): Circuit connection for servomotor to the Arduino Nano board

5.1.4 MPU6050 - Gyroscope

Gyro sensors, also known as angular rate sensors or angular velocity sensor, are
devices that sense angular velocity. Sensor module used in the proposed prosthetic hand
system is MPU6050, shown in Figure 5.7, which has both accelerometer and gyroscope
integrated. However, the gyroscope alone is used to control the wrist movement of the
prosthesis. The MPU6050 is the world’s first integrated 6-axis motion tracking device. It
combines a 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, and a Digital Motion Processor
(DMP). A number of different breakout boards are available containing the MPU6050
chip. The detailed specification of the MPU6050 module are placed in Appendix D.

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Figure 5.7: MPU6050 Gyroscope

5.1.5 nRF24L01 Wireless Transceiver

nRF24L01 is a single chip radio transceiver for the world wide 2.4 - 2.5 GHz ISM
band shown in the Figure 5.8 The transceiver consists of a fully integrated frequency
synthesizer, a power amplifier, a crystal oscillator, a demodulator, modulator and
Enhanced Shock Burst protocol engine. Output power, frequency channels, and protocol
setup are easily programmable through a SPI interface. The operating voltage of the
module is from 1.9 to 3.6V. Current consumption is very low, only 9.0mA at an output
power of -6dBm and 12.3mA in RX mode. Built-in Power Down and Standby modes
makes power saving easily realizable.

Figure 5.8: nRF24L01 Wireless Transceiver

It can operate with baud rates from 250 kbps up to 2 Mbps. If used in open space
and with lower baud rate its range can reach up to 100 meters. The module can use 125
different channels which gives a possibility to have a network of 125 independently
working modems in one place. Each channel can have up to 6 addresses, or each unit
can communicate with up to 6 other units at the same time. The detailed specification of
the nRf24L01 Wireless Transceiver module are placed in Appendix E.
Figure 5.9 shows the connection of nRF24L01 module with Arduino Nano board.
Two nRF24L01 modules are used. One at the glove which acts a transmitter to transmit

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flex sensor data and another one at the prosthetic hand which acts as a receiver to receive
the data and provide to the servomotor.

Figure 5.9: nRF24L01 module connection with Arduino Nano board

5.1.6 3D Printing

3D printing is a process of making three dimensional objects from a CAD file.

The production of 3D printed parts is accomplished by using additive processes, where an
object is created by laying down successive layers of material. Each of the layers are
horizontal cross-section of the eventual object. 3D printing is advancement in commercial
manufacturing to produce parts using less material than traditional methods of
manufacturing. Aerospace, defense and automotive industries use 3D printing for
9mprototyping, tools, fixtures and finished products. Figure 5.10 shows a 3D printer.

Figure 5.10: 3D Printer

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The advantages of 3D printing are:

 Ability to create parts with great geometrical complexity.
 Ability to customize products to suit individual needs.
 Energy efficient technology.
 Additive manufacturing use up to 90% of the standard materials and
therefore less waste.
 Lighter and stronger products.
 Spare parts can be printed on-site to save time and shipping cost.

A typical 3D printer is like an inkjet printer controlled from a computer. It builds a

3D model layer by layer, from the bottom upward, by repeatedly printing over the same
area using Fused Depositional Modeling (FDM) method. The 3D printer creates a model
by turning a 3D CAD drawing into many 2D, cross-sectional layers which are printed one
on top of another, molten plastics are deposited layer by layer and fused together using
ultraviolet light or adhesive.

The prosthetic hand design is based on the InMoov hand and forearm design.
InMoov is an open source 3D printed robot designs which is a development platform for
educational purposes. The 3D design of the arm can be seen in Figure 5.11.

Figure 5.11: 3D design of the hand prototype

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5.2 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

5.2.1 Arduino IDE

The Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a cross-platform

application. The programming can be done in languages like C and C++. It is used to
write and upload programs to Arduino compatible boards, but also, with the hep of 3 rd
party cores, other vendor development boards.

The usage of Arduino IDE makes it convenient for the user to code in a simpler
and easy manner; also, the debugging of the code is much simpler. It consists of a wide
range of exemplar problems which reduces the user to recode the available ones. It also
consists of a very wide range of inbuilt library files, consisting of inputs and outputs. It
consists of a serial monitor to view the outputs being obtained while executing the
program of the required sensors. Various arduino boards can be programmed using this
software.

5.2.2 Docklight

Docklight is a testing, analysis and simulation software for serial communication

protocols. It allows monitoring the communication between two serial devices. It can
convey client characterized groupings as per the convention utilized and it can respond to
approaching successions.

This makes it conceivable to mimic the conduct of a sequential specialized

equipment, which is especially helpful for creating test conditions that are difficult to
repeat with the first equipment. It is used to simulate a basic operation by making use of
an existing tool. A help tool is available if the manual operation fails. There are small
automated testing protocols to test the internet of things devices by connecting to the TCP
or UDP. To check the communication between the two nrf24 modules and save the values
obtained for programming and processing, the software is used.

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CHAPTER 6

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The prototype of the prosthetic hand is been developed by making use of 3D

printing technology which is controlled by making use of a glove controller. The usage of
flex sensors in the glove control technique, enabled to have a smooth functioning of each
finger. The resistances obtained from each of the flex sensor was monitored by the
Arduino IDE software, which helped in programming the microcontroller to control the
rotating angle of each servo motor, connected to the five flex sensors. Figure 6.1 shows
the control glove for the prosthetic hand system.

Figure 6.1: Glove Controller

It can be observed from the figure 6.1, that the glove has five flex sensors attached
to each of the fingers of the glove and a MPU 6050 gyroscope module is fixed at the
center of the glove. When the fingers are flexed, voltage variations are generated and sent
to the controller through wireless communication nrf modules. Tests are performed to
measure the reliability of the control glove with 20 iterations and the results are tabulated
in Table 6.1. Tests performed involved the closing and opening of the prosthetic hand
along with the movements of individual fingers.

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Table 6.1: Reliability performance of control glove

Glove Action Correct Action Wrong Action Accuracy (%)
Closing 19 1 95
Opening 19 1 95
Individual fingers 18 2 90

The top view of 3D printed prosthetic hand is shown in Figure 6.2. The Arduino
controller which is small in size can either be kept inside the hand design or next to the
prosthetic hand system which can be powered by an external power supply or can be
connected to the computer using an USB cable. The power supply to the servomotors is
provided by a 5V, 2A adaptor, which can be connected to the back of the setup using
power jack.

Figure 6.2: 3D printed Prosthetic Hand

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A deep analysis was made on the flexing and rotational movements of the normal
human hand and accordingly a prosthetic arm was designed and developed using 3-D
printing technology. In order to determine the functionality of the developed prosthetic
arm, different actions and motions of the prosthetic arm was conducted, the same can be
witnessed in the Table 6.2. It was possible to capture different actions of the prosthetic
arm with few certainties. Since nRF24L01 wireless transceiver modules are used for input
signal transmission from glove to prosthetic arm, there was delay seen at the output end
and the same has been recorded accordingly in the Table 6.2 below.

Let’s take a closer look at Table 6.2,

In the action 1 we can see that; the index finger of the glove controller wore to right
hand is the only pointing finger with the closed grip of rest of the finger. The output
obtained was desired as it was the exact replica action of the given input from the
controller but the delay of 3 seconds to obtain the output.

In the action 2 (ok symbol) we can see that; the index finger of the glove controller has
been flexed completely along with the thumb finger with other fingers having no flex
action. Although we were able to see a fast bend/ flexing of the index finger, the output
obtained was desired as it was the exact replica action of the given input from the
controller with a delay of 3 seconds to obtain the output.

In the action 3 (Yo symbol), the middle and the ring finger of the glove controller has
been flexed completely and rest of the finger are made open or is not been flexed. The
middle and the ring fingers smooth flexing action was observed and the final output was
synchronous to the given input signal. The delay seen was again 3 seconds to obtain the
output.

In the action 4 (closed fist), all the fingers have been flexed and a tight grip can be
observed in the glove controller, the same kind of action was observed in the prosthetic
arm, a closed grip with considerable tight grip. The delay was almost 3 seconds for this
action.

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In order to check the griping ability of the arm the action 5 was done, the glove
controller had a closed grip with moderate pressure of the fingers in order to not have
chaos with the object. The prosthetic arm could grab the object accordingly aligning its
fingers to the shape of the object in picture and a firm grip on the object by the prosthetic
arm was established. The delay was 3 seconds to obtain output.

The delays obtained above was reduced to the maximum with the baud rate
management, furthermore on research we found that it can be even more reduced with the
use of high-end transceiver modules to almost <0.5 seconds.

The fast flexing of the index finger can also be fixed with the connecting wire
adjustment, which is in process. It was possible to obtain desired outputs with certain
delays.

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Table 6.2- Few different actions obtained in prosthetic arm governed by the glove
controller and corresponding error in allignment and delay observed.

Action Actions performed by the glove Corresponding actions

Number performed by the Prosthetic
Hand

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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CHAPTER 7

CONCLUSION AND SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK

7.1 Conclusions

The project proposes a mechanical completely active and multifunctional 3-D printed
prosthetic arm imitating a normal human hand structurally and functionally. The prosthetic
hand is simple and can be easily custom designed at a low cost. The mechanical design of 3D
printed prosthetic hand can be easily adapted to different amputation needs and to people
belonging to the age group of continuous growth. The aim of being able to perform general
actions and activities as the normal human hand was met. A functional glove controller with
prosthetic arm was successfully built. The glove controller was able to control the actions of
the prosthetic arm in most appropriate way, not only the flexing action but the wrist motion
was an added advantage for the gripping action of the object. The prototype built is a cost-
effective model which can aid prosthesis in most efficient way. Thus, an anthropomorphic 3-
D printed prosthetic arm was designed and developed meeting the aim of the project.

7.2 Future Scope

The efficiency and performance of the prosthetic hand can be improved with the
following enhancements:
 The proposed prosthesis can be modified to amputees with lost limb.
 3D design can be modified to have more degrees of freedom for more accurate
movements of the arm.
 Controlling the prosthetic arm by voice.
 Increasing the number of sensors for better accuracy, such as force sensors and
capacitive sensors.

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REFERENCES AND BIBILIOGRAPHY

[1] Dinesh Mohan, “A Report on Amputees in India”, The American Orthotic and Prosthetic
Association.
[2] Alejandro Ca˜nizares, Jean Pazos and Diego Ben´ıtez, “On the use of 3D printing
technology towards the development of a low cost robotic prosthetic arm”, 2017 IEEE
International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC 2017),
Ixtapa, Mexico.
[3] William Taube Navaraj, Habib Nassar and Ravinder Dahiya, “Prosthetic hand with
Biomimetic Tactile sensing and force feedback”, 2019 IEEE International Symposium on
Circuits and Systems (ISCAS), Sapporo, Japan, Japan.
[4] Amit Hasan Khan, Fairoz Nower Khan, Lamiah Israt and Md. Saiful Islam, “Abdulla
Samy, “Thumb Controlled Low-Cost Prosthetic Robotic”, 2019 IEEE International
Conference on Electrical, Computer and Communication Technologies (ICECCT),
Coimbatore, India.
[5] Huichan Zhao, Kevin O’Brien, Shuo Li and Robert F. Shepherd, “Optoelectronically
innervated soft prosthetic hand via stretchable optical waveguides”, December 2016,
Science Robotics, Vol. 1, Issue 1, eaai7529.
[6] Matthew B. Burn, Anderson Ta and Gloria R. Gogola, “Three-Dimensional Printing of
Prosthetic Hands”, March 2016,The Journal of Hand Surgery.
[7] Yu She, Chang Li, Jonathon Cleary and Hai-Jun Su, “Design and Fabrication of a Soft
Robotic Hand with Embedded Actuators and Sensors”, May 2015, Journal od
Mechanisms and Robotics.
[8] Peter J Kyberd and Adrian Poulton, “Use of accelerometers in the control of practical
prosthetic arm”,October 2017, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation
Engineering, Volume: 25, Issue: 10.
[9] Ujwal, Rakshith Narun, Harshell Surana, Naga Surya and Ch Preetham Dheeraj, “Voice
control based prosthetic human arm”, July 2018, International Research Journal of
Engineering and Technology (IRJET), Volume: 05 Issue: 07.

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 Development and Implementation of
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[10] Panipat Wattanasiri, Pairat Tangpornprasert, and Chanyaphan Virulsri, “Design of

multi grip patterns, prosthetic hand with single actuator”, June 2018, IEEE Transactions
on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, Volume: 26, Issue: 6.
[11] Mohamad Amlie Abu Kasima, Cheng Yee Lowb, Muhammad Azmi Ayuba, Noor
Ayuni Che Zakariaa, Muhammad Haszerul Mohd Salleha, Khairunnisa Johara and Hizzul
Hamlia, “User friendly LabVIEW GUI for prosthetic hand control using Emotiv EEG
headset”, 2016 IEEE International Symposium on Robotics and Intelligent Sensors, IRIS
2016, Tokyo, Japan.
[12] Hitesh K. Phulawariya and Rahul Kumar, “A Prosthetic hand control interface using
ESP8266 Wi-Fi module and android application”, 2017 International Conference on
Innovations in Information, Embedded and Communication Systems (ICIIECS),
Coimbatore, India.
[13] Shiva Subhashini Pakalapati, G. Govardhana Chary, Atul K. Yadaw, Sushil Kumar,
Farah Alkhatib, John-John Cabibihan and Elsadig Mahadi, “Data for benchmarking low-
cost, 3D printed prosthetic hands”, Data in Brief, Volume 25, August 2019, 104163.
[14] Jayant Y. Hande, Niket Malusare, SubodhSawarbandhe and HarshalDarbhe, “Design
of a robotic hand using Flex sensor”, December 2015, International Journal of Advanced
Research in Electronics and Communication Engineering (IJARECE) Volume 4, Issue
12.
[15] John-John Cabibihan, M. Khaleel Abubasha, and Nitish Thakor, “A method for 3D
printing patient specific prosthetic arm with high accuracy shape and size”, 2018 IEEE
Access, Volume 6, 2018.
[16] Mohammed Fattah Saqib, Aurnab Islam, MD Labib Arefin Bari, Mir Sadif Ahmed
and MD. Arif Abdulla Samy, “Gesture controlled prosthetic arm with sensation sensors”,
2018 3rd International Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT), Pune, India.
[17] Atishay. M, D. Mahesh Kumar, Nikhitha P Rao, Jyothi S, Afifa Parveen, “
Development and Implementation of Real Time Flex Sensor Based Prosthetic Hand”,
2020 International Journal of Engineering, Research and Technology.

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APPENDIX A
Arduino Mega 2560 Microcontroller
The Arduino Mega 2560 is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega2560. It has
54 digital input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as PWM outputs), 16 analog inputs, 4
UARTs (hardware serial ports), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack,
an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the
microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with an AC-to-
DC adapter or battery to get started.
The Arduino Mega2560 can be powered via the USB connection or with an external
power supply. External power can come either from an AC-to-DC adapter or battery. Leads
from a battery can be inserted in the Gnd and Vin pin headers of the POWER connector. The
board can operate on an external supply of 6 to 20 volts. The Mega2560 differs from all
preceding boards in that it does not use the FTDI USB-to-serial driver chip. Instead, it
features the Atmega8U2 programmed as a USB-to-serial converter. The power pins are as
follows:
 VIN: The input voltage to the Arduino board when it's using an external power source
(as opposed to 5 volts from the USB connection or other regulated power source).
Voltage can be supplied through this pin, or, if supplying voltage via the power jack,
access it through this pin.
 5V: The regulated power supply used to power the microcontroller and other
components on the board. This can come either from VIN via an on-board regulator,
or be supplied by USB or another regulated 5V supply.
 3V3: A 3.3-volt supply generated by the on-board regulator. Maximum current draw
is 50 mA. • GND. Ground pins.
Each of the 54 digital pins on the Mega can be used as an input or output, using
pinMode(), digitalWrite(), and digitalRead() functions. They operate at 5 volts. Each pin can
provide or receive a maximum of 40 mA and has an internal pull-up resistor of 20-50 kΩ. In
addition, some pins have specialized functions:
 Serial pins: Used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL serial data. Pins 0 and 1 are
also connected to the corresponding pins of the ATmega8U2 USB-to-TTL Serial chip.

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 External Interrupts: These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt on a low

value, a rising or falling edge, or a change in value.
 PWM: 0 to 13. Provide 8-bit PWM output with the analogWrite() function.
 SPI: These pins support SPI communication, which, although provided by the
underlying hardware, is not currently included in the Arduino language.
 LED: 13. There is a built-in LED connected to digital pin 13. When the pin is HIGH
value, the LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it's off.
 I2C: 20 (SDA) and 21 (SCL). Support I2C (TWI) communication using the Wire
library.
The Mega2560 has 16 analog inputs, each of which provide 10 bits of resolution (i.e.
1024 different values). By default they measure from ground to 5 volts, though is it possible
to change the upper end of their range using the AREF pin and analogReference() function.

Figure A.1: Pinout of Arduino Mega 2560

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APPENDIX B
Arduino Nano
The Arduino Nano is a small, complete, and breadboard-friendly board based on the
ATmega328 (Arduino Nano 3.0). It lacks only a DC power jack, and works with a Mini-B
USB cable instead of a standard one. The Nano was designed and is being produced by
Gravitech. There are totally 14 digital Pins and 8 Analog pins on your Nano board. The
digital pins can be used to interface sensors by using them as input pins or drive loads by
using them as output pins. A simple function like pinMode() and digitalWrite() can be used to
control their operation. The operating voltage is 0V and 5V for digital pins. The analog pins
can measure analog voltage from 0V to 5V using any of the 8 Analog pins using a simple
function liken analogRead()
Specifications:
Operating Voltage (logic level) : 5V
Input Voltage (recommended) : 7-12 V
Input Voltage (limits) : 6-20 V
Digital I/O Pins : 14 (of which 6 provide PWM output)
Analog Input Pins : 8
DC Current per I/O Pin : 40mA
Flash Memory : 32 KB of which 2 KB used by bootloader
SRAM : 2 KB
EEPROM : 1 KB
Clock Speed : 16 MHz
Dimensions : 0.73" x 1.70"
Power and Communication protocols are as same as Arduino Mega 2560.

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Figure B.1: Pinout of Arduino Nano

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APPENDIX C
Servomotor- TowerPro MG995
Servomotor acts as an actuator to the prosthetic hand which is controlled by the
microcontroller by using PWM signals. The servomotor used in the proposed work is
TowerPro MG995 whose specification is given below.

Weight : 55g
Dimension : 40.7 x 19.7 x 42.9 mm approx
Stall torque : 8.5 kgf·cm (4.8 V ), 10 kgf·cm (6 V)
Operating speed : :0.2 s/60º (4.8 V), 0.16 s/60º (6 V)
Operating voltage : 4.8 V a 7.2 V
Dead bandwidth : 5 µs
Temperature : 0 ºC – 55 ºC
Motor Type : DC motor
Gear type : Metal
Rotational Range : 0˚ to 180˚
Pulse Cycle : 1 ms

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APPENDIX D
MPU6050
The MPU6050 is a 6-axis motion tracking device that combines a 3-axis gyroscope,
3-axis accelerometer and a digital motion processor, all in a small 4x4x0.9 mm package.
With its dedicated I2C sensor bus, it directly accepts inputs from an external 3-axis compass
to provide a complete 9-axis motion fusion output. The MPU6050 motion tracking device,
with its 6-axis integration, onboard motion fusion and runtime calibration firmware, enables
manufacturers to eliminate the costly and complex selection, qualification and system level
integration of discrete devices, guaranteeing optimal motion performance for consumers. The
MPU6050 is also designed to interface with multiple non inertial digital sensors, such as
pressure sensors, on its auxiliary I2C port. Figure D.1 shows the MPU6050 interfacing with
the Arduino board.
Orientation of axes of sensitivity and polarity of rotation of the MPU6050 is shown in
figure D.2. The MPU6050 features three 16 bit analog to digital converters for digitizing the
gyroscope outputs and three 16 bit ADC’s for digitizing the accelerometer outputs. For
precision tracking of both fast and slow motions, the parts feature a user-programming
gyroscope full scale range of ±250, ±500, ±1000 and ±2000°/sec and a user-programmable
accelerometer full-scale range of ±2g, ±4g, ±8g and ±16g. Some of the features of on board
gyroscope are:
 Digital-output X, Y and Z axis angular rate sensors.
 External sync signal connected to the FSYNC pin supports image, video and GPS
synchronization.
 Integrated 16-bit ADC’s enable simultaneous sampling of gyros.
 Enhanced bias and sensitivity temperature stability reduces the need for user
calibration.
 Improved low-frequency noise performance.
 Digitally programmable low-pass filter.
 Gyroscope operating current: 3.6 mA.
 Standby current: 5µA.
 Factory calibrated sensitivity scale factor.

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Figure D.1 Circuit connection for MPU6050 with Arduino board

Figure D.2: Orientation and polarity of rotation of MPU6050

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APPENDIX E
nRF24L01

The nRF24l01 is a wireless transceiver module, meaning each module can both send
and receive data. They operate in frequency of 2.4GHz, which falls under the ISM band and
hence it is legal to use in almost all countries for engineering applications. The modules when
operated efficiently can cover a distance of 100 meters, which makes it a great choice for all
wireless remote controlled projects.
The module operates at 3.3V hence can be easily used with 3.2V systems or 5V
systems. Each module has an address range of 125 and each module can communicate with
each other in a particular area. Hence mesh networks or other types of networks are possible
using this module. The features include the following:
 2.4GHz RF transceiver module.
 Operating voltage: 3.3V.
 Normal current: 50mA.
 Range: 50 to 200 feet.
 Operating current: 250mA.
 Communication Protocol: SPI.
 Baud rate: 250 kbps to 3 Mbps.
 Channel range: 125.
 Maximum pipelines/node: 6.
 Low cost wireless solution.

Figure E.1: Circuit connection for nRF24l01 with Arduino board.

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Vol. 9 Issue 04, April-2020

Development and Implementation of Real-Time

Flex Sensor based Prosthetic Hand
1
Atishay.M, 2D. Mahesh Kumar 3
Nikhitha.P. Rao, 4 Jyothi. S, 5Afifa Parveen
2
Associate Professor, Electronics & Instrumentation Engg. 1,3,4,5
Students, Electronics & Instrumentation Engg.
JSS Academy of Technical Education JSS Academy of Technical Education
Bengaluru, India Bengaluru, India

Abstract – Amputees are prone to physical and mental

problems. Due to the loss of their body parts, they mostly rely on
others to perform their daily activities. In order to facilitate and
improve the quality of life with independence and freedom to
the amputees, prosthesis was developed. Hence, this project
intends towards the development of a real-time flex sensor based
Prosthetic Hand to serve them. The proposed project involves a
glove controller, a technique involving the control of the arm
motion, where flex sensors are incorporated.
By measuring real-time variations of phantom mimicking, a
distinctive property of human hand, the results are validated.
The novel design consists of five fingers which are
actuated individually. Using nRF24 transceiver a wireless
communication was setup between the controller and the
prosthetic arm, which enabled the user to have convenient
functionality. The main purpose of the project is to demonstrate
the feasibility of using 3-D printing technology in the design of a
low cost, user convenient prosthetic hand for helping the
amputees perform the activities in which the use of both hands is Figure 1: Amputees in India
necessary. It helps the disabled in acquiring the confidence to
lead an independent life by regaining the functionality of the
disabled body part.

Keywords: Prosthetic hand, Flex sensors, Glove control, Phantom

mimicking, Actuators, Wireless communication, 3-D printing.

I. INTRODUCTION

On a recent survey conducted in India, it is recorded that

there are about 0.62 amputees per thousand population, as
shown in Figure 1. Amputation refers to the loss of a body
parts or a part of limb. The cause for these amputations might
be due to diseases such as blood vessel diseases, diabetes,
tumors, etc. and also due to injuries or accidents. Though the
amputees are strong enough, the society will treat them
different, making them feel alone. They are mostly dependent
on others in order to perform their daily chores, hence to
provide them an independent life, prosthesis was developed. Figure 2: Distribution of amputees

Figure 2 depicts the amputation rate based on the age of The first prosthetic hand was the prosthetic hook hand
people and we can observe that the majority of the which was developed during the Civil war, shown in Figure
amputations occur in the middle age where people lose their 3. Currently, different types of prosthetic arms with different
limbs due to accidents, and other diseases as described control techniques, such as Electromyography (EMG)
earlier. Comparing with the high income countries, the sensors, Electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors, etc. are
amputation rate is less in India for people aged above 60 developed and are available around the global market. In the
years as they are not much affected with vascular problems above mentioned control techniques acquiring the signals and
and diseases such as cancer. the processing of the input signals are a tedious process and
also its very difficult task to obtain accurate output. The
prosthesis available in the market involving the above
mentioned control techniques are of high cost and are not
affordable by many.

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control the movement of the fingers. Feedback actuation

mechanism is integrated to myoelectric band on residual limb
and the sensor is designed based on biomimetic strategy. 3D
printed structure is integrated onto a surface. The drawbacks
of this are that it exhibits only linear characteristics and is
difficult to handle with non-linear motions.

C. “Thumb controlled Low-Cost Prosthetic Robotic Arm”

[3]: In this paper, the proposed methodology has a particle
board frame which has the whole circuit. This can add to the
prosthetic hand being bulkier. And the prosthetic arm has a
claw shaped arm, which don’t serve our purpose of making it
look exactly like an arm so that the amputees feel
Figure 3: Prosthetic Hook Hand comfortable wearing it.

Hence, the paper proposes an electronically controlled D. “Optoelectronically innervated soft prosthetic hand via
prosthesis to fulfill the loss, which performs the stretchable optical waveguides” [4]: In this paper, the
functionalities as that of the original limb. It would also avoid proposed methodology uses optical waveguides which very
the dependency on others. The actions to be performed by the costly. Optoelectronic strain sensors used here are susceptible
3D printed prosthetic arms are controlled by a to interference from environmental effects. A solenoid valve
microcontroller. The proposed work makes use of flex is used which requires the control signal continuously which
sensors to obtain the movement of the fingers made by the is difficult to provide.
human hand and this information is sent to the
microcontroller to imitate the working of the hand, thereby E. “Three-Dimensional Printing of Prosthetic Hands for
the prosthetic arm will perform the operation performed by Children” [5]: This paper mainly proposes about the 3D
the human hand. Servo motors are present in the prosthetic printing technology and the materials used to develop
hand to make the movements of the finger and a gyroscope is prosthetic hand. In children, the growth period would bring a
present to control the movements of the wrist, thereby lot of physical changes which is challenging, in order to adapt
functioning as an original hand. By the use of this, the to those changes, the 3D printed prosthetic hand was
amputee would be able to grasp objects and also in lifting of designed accordingly in here. So, prosthetic hand can be
heavy objects without the help of any. designed and developed faster using 3D printing technology
and also to get a better quality, creative design and freedom
The aforementioned design would be able to mimic the to customize.
functioning of a human hand and would be dexterous with an
easy and natural control. The most important thing F. “Design and Fabrication of a Soft Robotic Hand with
considered is the cost which would be as low as possible and Embedded Actuators and Sensors” [6]: The proposed
would be affordable to everyone. methodology uses a silicone rubber material for the body of
the arm which is soft and recovers the shape after removing
II. LITERATURE SURVEY the pressure applied to it. Piezoelectric transducer is used to
sense the finger movements. Fabrication process is tedious.
There are a lot of prosthetic hand designs around the
Embedded shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator is used to
world. Some prosthetic hands differ in the sensors used, some
provide the movement which is made of Ni-Ti strip. This Ni-
in the materials with which they are built and some the
Ti strip picks up false signal as they are very sensitive.
methodology. These prosthetic hands are costly, harder to use
since the design, usage is very complex. There are few
G. “Use of accelerometers in the control of practical
papers below which shows how similar or different is our
prosthetic arm” [7]: The proposed methodology uses
paper from them.
accelerometers to control the movement of the prosthetic arm
and also provides the information on the orientation of limb
A. “On the use of 3D printing technology towards the
segments. Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is used which is
development of a low cost robotic prosthetic arm” [1]: In this
a combination of accelerometer, gyroscope and
paper, the proposed methodology has two ways to replicate
magnetometers. EMG sensor is used to sense the contractions
the human hand movement one is by flex sensor which is
of the muscles. But the major disadvantage is that the
incorporated in a glove is used sense the finger movement
prosthetic arm developed is very heavy and as well as slower
and the other one is by Electromyography (EMG) sensor
in operation and hard to use.
connected to the muscles of the amputee. The main
disadvantage here is that it is very difficult to sense and
H. “Voice control based prosthetic human arm” [8]: In this
process an EMG signal.
paper, the proposed methodology contains a prosthetic arm
whose movement can be controlled by voice. This is actually
B. “Prosthetic hand with Biomimetic Tactile sensing and
a big step in the advancement of technology, but it has its
force feedback” [2]: This paper proposes the use of force
own disadvantages. Since the prosthetic arm is voice
feedback actuation system in order to drive the motors to

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controlled, it causes problems in the noisy environment. degrees of repeatability, precision and reliability should be
Sometimes the prosthetic arm might have delayed response used.
than the glove controlled prosthetic arm. And the major
disadvantage is that is requires constant internet connection N. “A method for 3D printing patient specific prosthetic arm
since it’s using Google’s API to convert voice commands with high accuracy shape and size” [14]: In the work
into to text. proposed, design of prosthetic arm is done by capturing
tomographic images using CAD software. Blender software
I. “Design of multi grip patterns, prosthetic hand with single is used to compare affected and not affected arm and
actuator” [9]: In this paper, the proposed methodology has functions are performed accordingly. The disadvantage is that
only one actuator to control the prosthetic hand with five obtaining the same replica of the functional hand is difficult
finger multi grip pattern which helps to perform daily and requires excess material deposition.
activities. But the size of the actuator is very big. The grasp
of the fingers is not stable. O. “Gesture controlled prosthetic arm with sensation sensors”
[15]: In the proposed paper, flex sensors in the glove gives
J. “User friendly LabVIEW GUI for prosthetic hand control the input signal. Servo motors are the actuators used for
using Emotive EEG headset” [10]: In this paper, controlling movement of fingers and Peltier plates are used to give
of the prosthetic hand is done through Brain Computer cooling effect. LM35 is used to obtain the surroundings
Interface (BCI). The signals are recorded through the emotive temperature. The disadvantages are that it has lesser degrees
Electroencephalograph (EEG) headset. EEG is integrated of freedom and very low grip force necessary for holding
with Graphical User Interface (GUI) and designed using objects.
LabVIEW. It has a lot of disadvantages as the range of
functions performed is limited and has to be trained to III. METHODOLOGY AND WORK FLOW
perform the required functions and a lot of disturbances occur The project proposes a wearable glove controller, to
in data due to artifacts. control the movements in the prosthetic arm. The prototype
consists of two main parts the glove and the prosthetic arm.
K. “A Prosthetic hand control interface using ESP8266 Wi-Fi Two nRF24L01 wireless transceiver modules are used to
module and android application” [11]: In the proposed establish wireless communication link between the glove
project, logic functions are developed in order to set angle of controller and the prosthetic arm.
rotation. Servo motors are used to determine the finger
movements, that are controlled via Wi-Fi module. Android
application is developed for the control of prosthetic arm and
the system is controlled manually using mobile control
framework. The proposed work, makes use of android
application to choose gesture. The disadvantage here is that it
is restricted to specific angles and entire unit should be
connected to Wi-Fi network.

L. “Data for benchmarking low-cost, 3D printed prosthetic

hands” [12]: This paper deals with the grasp, finite element
modeling and the tensile test performed on ABS and PLA
materials (3D printing). Comparison between human hand
and prosthetic hand is done to see grasp of fingers on the
spherical, cylindrical and cubic objects. Finite element model
is a tool used to analyze the contact between prosthetic
fingers and the objects. The mechanical properties of the
materials used for 3D printing like ABS and PLA were Figure 4: Block Diagram
checked by applying load. The disadvantage of the proposed
work is that it is limited to perform only 3 functions and there Glove controller: Figure 5 is the picture of the glove
is failure in analysis of the functioning of the arm. controller used in the project. This controller is a form of
wearable Human machine Interface, where the machine
M. “Design of a robotic hand using Flex sensor” [13]: In the (prosthetic arm) follows the control signals from human via
work proposed, servo motors are used for rotation which the glove controller. As we can see from the Figure 5, the
generates constant pulse width modulations (PWM). Flex glove controller has five flex sensors embedded to each
sensors are used to sense the motion of finger and an finger to gather the information of the finger positions
ATmega8 microcontroller is used to analyze bend of finger. respectively. Flex sensors used gives the change in the
Four channel oscilloscope is used to obtain the waveform. resistance over bending or deflection action which is read in
Servo driver and servo module are connected via serial terms of voltage in voltage divider. A gyroscope module is
communication. Power transistor in emitter follower is used located at the wrist to measure the angular variations and
to deliver current. The disadvantage is that sensors with high mimic the same in the prosthetic arm. An Arduino Mega
microcontroller is used in the glove controller, which

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processes the input data from the flex sensors by the Analog The parts of the prosthetic arm were 3-D printed. The
to digital converter (ADC) pin present and sends the digital design of the hand was sketched using the CAD software.
output to the Arduino Nano with
The help of nRF24L01 wireless communication module to Programming of the microcontroller is done based on the
get the output at the prosthetic hand. flowchart as shown in figure 7 and figure 8.

Figure 5: Glove Controller

Prosthetic hand: Figure 6 is the picture of the 3-D printed

Prosthetic Hand created in this project. The digital data from
the Arduino Mega is converted into corresponding Pulse
width Modulation (PWM) signal. These signals in-turn serve
as the guide for controlling the rotation of the servomotors
accordingly.

There are six servo motors, five for fingers and one for the
wrist motion. The wrist motion is restricted to 45degree. KK-
77 strings were used to connect the fingers to the servos to act Figure 7: Transmitter Flow Chart
as artificial tendons, present in the fingers. Synchronous
movement of each finger is obtained with the given input data Figure 7 shows the Work flow or the flow chart of the
and the servo pulleys. The Arduino nano board is the transmitter or in other words of the glove controller, as to
microcontroller used for processing in the prosthetic arm. how the input signals from the glove is transmitted to the
receiver that is the prosthetic arm. These input signals from
the glove controller control the movements of the prosthetic
arm.

As seen in figure 7, as soon as the Arduino is powered up,

the variable flex sensors output according to the action or
movement in the glove is sensed and the output obtained is
converted into corresponding voltage values with the voltage
divider circuit setup.

These outputs from the five flex sensors along with the
gyroscope’s output i.e., x, y & z axis alignments are
converted into digital values. These digital values are then
transmitted using the nRF24 transceiver module.

The output from the sensors is transmitted continuously

and uninterruptedly. The output changes with the change in
glove’s action, which changes flex sensors and gyroscope’s
output in-turn. The process stops with the loss of power.
Figure 6: 3-D printed Prosthetic Hand

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sensors and gyroscope for motion control of prosthetic arm

was accordingly designed and set up to control the prosthetic
arm movements.

In order to determine the functionality of the developed

prosthetic arm, different actions and motions of the prosthetic
arm was conducted, the same can be witnessed in the Table I.
It was possible to capture different actions of the prosthetic
arm with few certainties. Since nRF24L01 wireless
transceiver modules are used for input signal transmission
from glove to prosthetic arm, there was delay seen at the
output end and the same has been recorded accordingly in the
Table I below.

Let’s take a closer look at Table I,

In the action 1 we can see that; the index finger of the
glove controller wore to right hand is the only pointing finger
with the closed grip of rest of the finger. The output obtained
was desired as it was the exact replica action of the given
input from the controller but the delay of 3 seconds to obtain
the output.

In the action 2 (ok symbol) we can see that; the index

finger of the glove controller has been flexed completely
along with the thumb finger with other fingers having no flex
action. Although we were able to see a fast bend/ flexing of
the index finger, the output obtained was desired as it was the
Figure 8: Receiver Flow Chart exact replica action of the given input from the controller
with a delay of 3 seconds to obtain the output.
Figure 8 depicts the Work flow or the flow chart of the
receiver or in other words of the prosthetic hand, as to how In the action 3 (Yo symbol), the middle and the ring finger
the output signals are received from the transmitter or the of the glove controller has been flexed completely and rest of
glove controller and is processed to obtain the required the finger are made open or is not been flexed. The middle
actions accordingly. and the ring fingers smooth flexing action was observed and
the final output was synchronous to the given input signal.
The Arduino is first powered up for the entire process to The delay seen was again 3 seconds to obtain the output.
happen. The digital output obtained is in the form of PWM
waves. Based on the digital values of the flex sensors at two In the action 4 (closed fist), all the fingers have been flexed
extremities two Threshold values, Threshold 1 and Threshold and a tight grip can be observed in the glove controller, the
2 was set accordingly. same kind of action was observed in the prosthetic arm, a
closed grip with considerable tight grip. The delay was
When the digital values varies between the Threshold 1 almost 3 seconds for this action.
and the Threshold 2 values the servo motors are aligned
accordingly, as seen in the flow chart. The gyroscope’s In order to check the griping ability of the arm the action 5
output determines the wrist motion of the prosthetic hand, the was done, the glove controller had a closed grip with
angle of rotation of the wrist is restricted to 45 degrees. moderate pressure of the fingers in order to not have chaos
with the object. The prosthetic arm could grab the object
The prosthetic arm remains in one position until the output accordingly aligning its fingers to the shape of the object in
values obtained is changed. In the actions where the grasping picture and a firm grip on the object by the prosthetic arm
of certain objects is required, the prosthetic hand developed was established. The delay was 3 seconds to obtain output.
as the ability to align then according to the shape of the object
due to their flexible movements. The delays obtained above was reduced to the maximum
with the baud rate management, furthermore on research we
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION found that it can be even more reduced with the use of high-
A deep analysis was made on the flexing and rotational end transceiver modules to almost <0.5 seconds.
movements of the normal human hand and accordingly a
The fast flexing of the index finger can also be fixed with
prosthetic arm was designed and developed using 3-D
the connecting wire adjustment, which is in process. It was
printing technology. A glove controller, embedded with flex
possible to obtain desired outputs with certain delays.

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Published by : International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
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Table I- Few different actions obtained in prosthetic arm governed by the glove controller and corresponding error in allignment
and delay observed.

Action Glove controller Prosthetic Hand Error % &

Number (Right hand movement) (Left Prosthetic hand movement) Delay

No error observed. Delay of 3

1. seconds seen.

Fast bend/flex action observed of

2. Index finger. Delay of 3 seconds
seen.

3. No error observed. Delay of 3

seconds seen.

4.
No error observed. Delay of 3
seconds seen.

Moderate grip on the object was

obtained with less than 3 second
5. delay.

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Published by : International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
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Vol. 9 Issue 04, April-2020

V. CONCLUSION [14] John-John Cabibihan, M. Khaleel Abubasha, and Nitish Thakor, “A

method for 3D printing patient specific prosthetic arm with high
The project proposes a mechanical completely active and
accuracy shape and size”, 2018 IEEE Access, Volume 6, 2018.
multifunctional 3-D printed prosthetic arm imitating a normal [15] Mohammed Fattah Saqib, Aurnab Islam, MD Labib Arefin Bari, Mir
human hand structurally and functionally. The aim of being Sadif Ahmed and MD. Arif Abdulla Samy, “Gesture controlled
able to perform general actions and activities as the normal prosthetic arm with sensation sensors”, 2018 3rd International
Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT), Pune, India.
human hand was met. A functional glove controller with
[16] SR Yadhuraj, BG Sudarshan, SCP Kumar, DM Kumar, “Analysis of
prosthetic arm was successfully built. The glove controller Linear and Non-linear parameters of HRV for opting optimum
was able to control the actions of the prosthetic arm in most parameters in wearable device”, materials today: proceedings.
appropriate way, not only the flexing action but the wrist [17] Dinesh Mohan, “A Report on Amputees in India”,The American
motion was an added advantage for the gripping action of the Orthotic and Prosthetic Association.
object. The prototype built is a cost-effective model which
can aid prosthesis is most efficient way. Thus, an AUTHOR PEOFILE
anthropomorphic 3-D printed prosthetic arm was designed
and developed meeting the aim of the project. Mr. Atishay M is currently
pursuing Bachelors of
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