Design and analysis of an artificial finger joint for anthropomorphic robotic hands

In order to further understand what physiological characteristics make a human hand irreplaceable for many dexterous tasks, it is necessary to develop artificial joints that are anatomically correct while sharing similar dynamic features. In this paper, we address the problem of designing a two degree of freedom metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint of an index finger. The artificial MCP joint is composed of a ball joint, crocheted ligaments, and a silicon rubber sleeve which as a whole provides the functions required of a human finger joint. We quantitatively validate the efficacy of the artificial joint by comparing its dynamic characteristics with that of two human subjects' index fingers by analyzing their impulse response with linear regression. Design parameters of the artificial joint are varied to highlight their effect on the joint's dynamics. A modified, second-order model is fit which accounts for non-linear stiffness and damping, and a higher order model is considered. Good fits are observed both in the human (R
²
= 0.97) and the artificial joint of the index finger (R
²
= 0.95). Parameter estimates of stiffness and damping for the artificial joint are found to be similar to those in the literature, indicating our new joint is a good approximation for an index finger's MCP joint.