Wiatt Iluka
To manage the motion and joint compliance of an extra robotic finger, an unique Electromyographic (EMG) control interface was developed. A new class of wearable robotics known as "supernumerary robotic fingers" gives users extra robotic limbs to compensate for or enhance the capabilities of their native limbs without actually replacing them. Since extra robotic fingers are intended to work in concert with human limbs and intimately interact with them, they should exhibit similar behaviour to that of human beings, including the capacity to manage compliance. In order to implement stiffness regulation control strategies, it is crucial to present a control interface and take into account the actuators and sensing capabilities of the robotic additional finger. We provide an EMG interface and a control strategy to adjust the device's compliance using servo actuators. In particular, we employ a surface one channel EMG electrodes interface to control the compliance of the robotic device and a commercial EMG armband for gesture detection to be coupled with the motion control of the robotic device. With the help of two sets of tests on compensation and augmentation, we have validated the suggested interface. Since this cutting-edge wearable technology can be utilised to compensate for the absent grasping abilities in chronic stroke patients, several bimanual activities have been completed in the first set of studies using the robotic device and imitating a paretic hand. The robotic additional finger is utilised in the second set to increase the workspace and manipulation power of healthy hands. The identical EMG control interface has been used to both sets.