Design of A New Soft Actuator for Rehabilitation Robot Finger

Aiming at the rehabilitation problem of patients with hand movement dysfunction, a new soft actuator for wearable rehabilitation robot finger was designed. The soft actuator was made of elastic materials with integrated channels. The interior of the soft actuator was densely distributed with triangular non-inflatable chamber and rhombic inflatable chamber. The chambers of the two different functions were spaced apart, and there was a channel connection between them. For the soft actuator design, the deformation simulation analysis was first carried out in ABAQUS to verify its feasibility. Then, the soft actuator was manufactured with technique of 3D print, and experimented on the experimental platform. The results show that the designed structure of the soft actuator is reasonable, and the bending motion of the finger is 0-90°. The bending angle can be adjusted by the air pressure, which can meet the needs of rehabilitation training of joint movement and ligament stretching.