SOFT ROBOTIC HAND

Tinna Grönfeldt

The soft robotic hand is a hand attachment made to carry out simple everyday tasks such as picking up objects and writing for people with limited motor skills. By using a silicone gripper it allows the user to pick up more nonuniform objects with ease and allows for a soft and nonrigid attachment to the hand of the user. 

The soft robotic hand is composed of two silicone grippers. One that attaches to the hand and another one to pick up objects. The gripper closes when inflated and then opens when deflated. The gripper has three layers to it. The top layer which has the chambers for the air to flow through when the gripper is inflated, the middle layer is a non-stretchable fabric that forces the gripper to bend in only one direction, and the bottom layer is a thick layer of silicone to seal all the layers together so that there are no holes for air to escape from the chambers.