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A 3D Printing Soft Prosthesis and an IoT Architecture for Controlling Gestures

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Abstract:

Upper limb prosthesis have been evolving since 1967, progressing from mechanical prosthesis to robotic prosthesis, integrating electronics with emerging materials. This work aims to develop a low-cost integrated active upper limb prosthesis using additive manufacturing, controlled by the user with a myoelectric sensor to perform three hand gestures: power grip, two-fingered cup movement, and gripper actions. The prosthesis is based on the reduction of degrees of freedom, the analysis of five additive manufacturing materials, and the implementation of a neural network to control the gestures performed by the prosthesis. The precision obtained in the best model saved by the neural network was 91.25% and a recall of 90.75%. A key contribution of this work is the integration of soft 3D printing materials, which enhance object grasping by conforming to various shapes. In this case, grasping was achieved using a driven cable and a flex sensor in three gestures with different objects.

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Periodical:

Journal of Biomimetics, Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering (Volume 69)

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137-150

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4028/p-y0NyIN

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Online since:

October 2025

Authors:

Jose Luis Ordoñez-Avila*, Darwin Daniel Lopez, Diego Ventura, Jose Molina-Palucho, André David Colindres, María Elena Perdomo, Karla Miriam Reyes Leiva, Julio Valentin Fajardo, Manuel Cardona

Keywords:

EMG, Gesture Recognition, Grasping, Hand Prosthesis, Soft Robotics

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© 2025 Trans Tech Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved

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* - Corresponding Author

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