• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1217-1224
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• 2013

In this paper, a hand exoskeleton actuated by air muscles(soft hand exoskeleton) is introduced. Some soft hand exoskeletons have already been developed to overcome the defects of hand exoskeletons based on linkage and pneumatic piston system-they are usually bulky and do not have enough degree of freedom(DOF). However, soft hand exoskeletons still have defects. Their motions are not precise as linkage based hand exoskeletons, because their actuator, such as air muscle is made of soft materials. So we developed a new linkage which is not bulky and has redundant DOF. It is combined with air muscle in a specific way so that it acts as a guide when air muscle is actuated. Some experiments were conducted to evaluate the validity and usability of our hand exoskeleton.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.162-170
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• 2015

This paper describes the development of a hand module of NREX (National Rehabilitation Center Robotic Exoskeleton) designed to assist individuals with sustained neurological impairments such as stroke and spinal cord injuries. To construct a simple and lightweight hand module, the robotic hand adopts a mechanism driven by a motor and moved by two four-bar linkages. The motor facilitates the flexion-extension movements of the thumb and the other four fingers simultaneously. Thus, an individual using the robotic hand module can effectively grip and release objects related to daily life activities. The robotic hand module has been designed to cover the range of motion with respect to its link distance. This hand module can be used in therapeutic rehabilitation as well as for daily life assistance. In addition, this hand module can either be mounted on an NREX or used as a standalone module.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.1585-1591
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• 2011

In this paper, we present a new exoskeleton-type data glove that can sense the movement of the human finger and reflect the force to the finger. The data glove is designed on the basis of the skeletal structure of the human hand, and the finger module has 1 degree-of-freedom because it includes three four-bar mechanism joints in series and a wire-coupling mechanism. In addition, the transmission ratio of the finger module is maintained at 1:1.4:1 over the entire movement range, and hence, the module can perform both extension and flexion. In addition, to enable adduction/abduction motion of the human hand, a unique MCP joint is designed by using two universal joints. To validate the feasibility of the data glove, master-slave control experiments based on force-position control between the data glove and the robot hand are conducted.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.873-878
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• 2015

A finger exoskeleton actuated by ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuators has been developed. In order to evaluate performance of cylindrical grasping of finger exoskeletons, they were equipped with a hand dummy, which is composed of four fingers. The finger dummy has three joints that can be actuated by bending the IPMC actuators. A four finger grasping motion was analyzed using cameras, and cylindrical grasping motion was accomplished within two minutes after applying a 4 volt direct voltage to the IPMC actuators. A pull out test was also performed to evaluate the cylindrical grasping force of the finger exoskeletons actuated by the IPMC actuators. Each finger generated about 2 N of holding force when grasping the cylinder which had a diameter of 50 mm.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.938-948
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• 2001

In this paper, we present an exoskeletal haptic device named SKK Hand Master. This device is directly driven linkages actuated with small ultrasonic motors. By adopting ultrasonic motors that have advantageous features useful for cybernetic actuators, a compact haptic device containing whole driving packages can be established without additional power transmissions such as tendons. Methods for measuring joint postures and joint torques are developed and a new control strategy called PWM/PS is proposed to overcome intrinsic disadvantages such as hysteresis. Issues regarding design and construction of the device are addressed and several results of experiments for the evaluations of performance are included.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.531-537
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• 2015

Hand function is one of the essential functions required to perform the activities of daily living, and wearable robots that assist or recover hand functions have been consistently developed. Previously, wearable robots commonly employed conventional robotic technology such as linkage which consists of rigid links and pin joints. Recently, as the interest in soft robotics has increased, many attempts to develop a wearable robot with a soft structure have been made and are in progress in order to reduce size and weight. This paper presents the concept of a soft wearable robot composed of a soft structure by comparing it with conventional wearable robots. After that, currently developed soft wearable robots and related issues are introduced.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.941-946
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• 2021

This paper is a study on the design and implementation of a rehabilitation wearable robotic hand that reduces weight and volume by using a 3D printer and a motor. Rehabilitation wearable robots are important not only for the effect of rehabilitation but also for ease of use. However, most of the currently researched and developed rehabilitation exoskeleton robots are heavy in volume and weight, or they have to be used in place. Therefore, a wearable robot that is easy to wear and does not burden the user is required, so a lightweight electric rehabilitation wearable robot hand is proposed. A 3D printer was used to reduce the weight and volume and to make it easier to wear. In addition, to increase portability, the structure was simplified by adopting an electric method rather than a pneumatic method. Finally, the effectiveness was examined through the experiment of the lightweight electric rehabilitation wearable robot hand.