Control philosophy and simulation of a robotic hand as a model for prosthetic hands

Multi-fingered robotic hands are attempts to approximate human hand characteristics and functionality, and it is reasonable to consider their possible adaptation and use in prosthetics and rehabilitation. The Belgrade/USC robot hand is used as a prototype prosthetic hand in order to evaluate a system that translates task-level commands into motor commands. The system, PRESHAPE, uses the virtual finger concept for generating the free and guarded motions that occur during the phases of hand movements in prehensile and nonprehensile tasks. This paper describes the control philosophy of PRESHAPE and presents simulation results for various tasks.