A Cable-actuated Prosthetic Emulator for Transradial Amputees

Upper limb prosthesis has a high abandonment rate due to the low function and heavyweight. These two factors are coupled because higher function leads to additional motors, batteries, and other electronics which makes the device heavier. Robotic emulators have been used for lower limb studies to decouple the device weight and high functionality in order to explore human-centered designs and controllers featuring off-board motors. In this study, we designed a prosthetic emulator for transradial (below elbow) prosthesis to identify the optimal design and control of the user. The device only weighs half of the physiological arm which features two active wrist movements with active power grasping. The detailed design of the prosthetic arm and the performance of the system is presented in this study. We envision this emulator can be used as a test-bed to identify the desired specification of transradial prosthesis, human-robot interaction, and human-in-the-loop control.