Abstract:
Children with congenital limb loss undergo a different prosthetic journey as opposed to adults. As
these children are born without a limb, the use of a prosthesis can feel foreign, creating discomfort.
This thesis presents a hyperadaptive prosthetic hand with an electromyography (EMG)-based
shared control scheme that confidently allows the user to approach and grasps objects without external
devices’ assistance. The prosthesis is designed to act as a ”training wheel” device that encourages
children who suffer from upper limb congenital amputation to utilise prostheses at an early age
through play. The device incorporates three hyperadaptive fingers manufactured through hybrid deposition
manufacturing (HDM). The prosthesis includes a gear drive system to control two fingers’
abduction/adduction motion to adjust the grasp type per the object detected. Due to the compact nature
required for children’s prostheses, three pinion differentials were designed to actuate the fingers
through a bevel gear drive mechanism. Experiments were conducted to validate the shared control
and grasping capabilities of the device. The prosthesis successfully interpreted the objects detected to
adjust between narrow, interdigitated and symmetric tripod grasp types upon the user clenching their
fist to activate EMG control.
