Soft Finger Rehabilitation Exoskeleton of Biomimetic Dragonfly Abdominal Ventral Muscles: Center Tendon Pneumatic Bellows Actuator

Abstract

The development of soft robotics owes much to the field of biomimetics, where soft actuators predominantly mimic the movement found in nature. In contrast to their rigid counterparts, soft robots offer superior safety and human–machine interaction comfort, particularly in medical applications. However, when it comes to the hand rehabilitation exoskeletons, the soft devices have been limited by size and material constraints, unable to provide sufficient tensile strength for patients with high muscle tension. In this paper, we drew inspiration from the muscle structure found in the tail of dragonflies and designed a novel central tendon-based bellows actuator. The experimental results demonstrated that the central tendon-based bellows actuator significantly outperforms conventional pneumatic bellows actuators in terms of mechanical output. The tensile strength of the central tendon-based bellows actuator exceeded that of pneumatic actuators more than tenfold, while adding only 2 g to the wearable weight. This finding suggests that the central tendon-based bellows actuator is exceptionally well-suited for applications demanding substantial pulling force, such as in the field of exoskeleton robotics. With tensile strength exceeding that of pneumatic bellows actuators, this biomimetic design opens new avenues for safer and more effective human–machine interaction, revolutionizing various sectors from healthcare to industrial automation.