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instructables

Cyborg Hand : Robotic-cum-Prosthetic Servo Powered Hand

by TanmayBenjwal

https://www.youtube.com/embed/gO7L46sZTY4?enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.instructables.com

Supplies:

Hey there !
For this Instructable you will need:
1- 3d Printer
2- CAD software( TinkerCad / Fusion360 )
3- PLA and TPU lament
4- Servos [ MG996R / MG945 / MG995 ]
5- Arduino
6- Wires and Breadboard
7- Rubber bands
8- Thread / String ( nylon preferred )

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Step 1: Background

I was always inspired and thrilled after seeing movies on robot or movies which had robot in them from Wall-e to Iron-
man to Alita: battle angle . I am also very enthusiast about robotics and believe that we can improve our life with the
help of robotics. We can be like cyborgs and do some heavy or complex stu easily.
I also am an Engineering student so I thought lets build a Robotic-cum-Prosthetic Hand that can be used in both
purposes with a few to no modi cation.
So here I have designed a Robotic hand inspired and taken idea from two di erent open source projects and added my
inputs and design to it to t the purpose. The arm is build using completely 3D printed parts. It is designed in
ThinkerCAD and Fusion360. The material used for 3D printing is PLA ( Poly Lactic Acid ) which is a bio-plastic and is
biodegradable. To make movement such as ngers opening and closing as well as rotation of wrist a total of 5 servo
(MG995) motors are used which are controlled using an Arduino board. Also the robotic hand can be controlled using
potentiometers, EMG sensors, AR-VR gloves or just direct coding. A string tension mechanism is used using a pulley to
actuate ngers while a servo is directly connected to bottom plate for rotation of wrist. 3D printed TPU hinges and
Rubber bands are used for push back action of ngers once the tension in string is released.

Step 2: CAD Design

https://www.youtube.com/embed/XZdXi2lXFp8

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The designing part of it is the most crucial and important step. Keeping in mind that the strength of the end product
should withstand its own weight as well as some external weight and torque ( from the object it lifts ).
So after understanding the basic of hand movement that I will go for i.e. nger movement and wrist rotation movement I
decided to use as simple shape and design as possible. Also I had a reference point to start with because I had an idea
about how should a robotic hand should be designed and made based on numerous videos and open source project
that I watched and read.
So I opened up my ThinkerCad account imported a few les and started remixing them according to my need and scope
of project. That said many components are completely designed my me for instance the wrist joint (where hand and
servo hold joins together) the main arm body and its cap, etc. While most of the work was done in ThinkerCad I sent a few
les such that of wrist joint to Fusion360 for some further detailing to the design.
Designed to replicate natural hand position when picking up any object.
MG995 servo motors used have a torque of 2.8 KG/cm at 4.8V in this particular application a constant power of 5V is
supplied to all servo motors. When the servo motor rotates, the torque is transferred to string using pulley wheel
because of this tension is created in string and this tension forces ngers to actuate to close position. 4 Servos are used
to actuate ngers( 1 thumb, 1 index nger, 1 middle nger, 1 for ring and pinky nger). Each Finger have phalanges
(biological term for 3 nger bones[see gure]) here I have added a 45° angle at each phalanx so together it can actuate a
total of 90° giving a complete natural movement of Human Fingers.
4 Servo each producing 2Kg of force each at 5 ngers. So a total of around 8Kg of closing/squeezing force is experienced
at the wrist but the hand can only pick up 1.5~2Kg of weight because of joint strength as force(weight of object picked)
applies a resultant torque at elbow and wrist joint.
I have added all the 3D downloadable (.stl) les link below:

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View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FJY/AK5E/KREXBFXY/FJYAK5EKREXBFXY.stl

View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FQJ/QXV9/KREXBFXZ/FQJQXV9KREXBFXZ.stl

View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FQG/D0HP/KTODHVRC/FQGD0HPKTODHVRC.stl

View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FFW/3VHN/KREXBFY0/FFW3VHNKREXBFY0.stl

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View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FHN/2HF5/KREXBFY1/FHN2HF5KREXBFY1.stl

View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FUQ/V6XQ/KREXBG0O/FUQV6XQKREXBG0O.stl

View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FWF/MBMH/KREXBG0P/FWFMBMHKREXBG0P.stl

View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FRT/7ALB/KREXBG3C/FRT7ALBKREXBG3C.stl

View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FTE/YHQ2/KREXBG3D/FTEYHQ2KREXBG3D.stl

View in 3D Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FJB/TIVR/KTBIGV4C/FJBTIVRKTBIGV4C.stl

Step 3: 3D Printing

This part is fairly simple after you have downloaded the .stl les open them in your regular or daily slicer software. I use
standard Cura and Creality slicer as they are open source and works very well with my upgraded Ender3.
The settings are pretty stock, you can have a look at it from the screenshot that I added. I have used a cheap PLA and TPU
for the print and the print came out just ne. My stalk settings are:
Nozzle temp- 200 (PLA), 210(TPU)
Bed temp- 60(PLA), 80(TPU)
Speed- 80mm/s(PLA), 60mm/s(PLA)
Layer height- 0.2mm
In ll- 20%
I have added all Gcode les below:

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Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/F97/D0AT/KR6COTMM/F97D0ATKR6COTMM.gco

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FDT/204Z/KR6COTMN/FDT204ZKR6COTMN.gco

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FQM/5G0C/KR6COTMO/FQM5G0CKR6COTMO.gco

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FNC/MIUF/KR6COTMP/FNCMIUFKR6COTMP.gco

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FK0/N874/KR6COTMQ/FK0N874KR6COTMQ.gco

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FQ4/UFTY/KR6COTMR/FQ4UFTYKR6COTMR.gco

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/F98/LEUX/KR6COTMS/F98LEUXKR6COTMS.gco

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FMG/JW0G/KR6COTMT/FMGJW0GKR6COTMT.gco

Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FD5/PDUN/KR6COTMU/FD5PDUNKR6COTMU.gco

Step 4: Assembly and Circuit Diagram

After some clean up of the 3D printed parts now it's time for the fun part. Follow these steps and guidelines:
1-The servo horn ( 3d printed pulley ) that you will download needs to be stick with super-glue to the servo horn (
circular black coupling that came with servo MG995 )
2- The servos are to be positioned opposite to each other also the holes for tightening the servo will guide you.
3- Take your nylon thread stretch it and rub candle wax over it and then apply thin layer of super-glue to it. Now cut long
30cm pieces of it. ( this will increase the strength and will prevent thread from unwinding itself )
4- Now take thread and make your hand by passing thread from holes in each 3d printed nger and then guide hole
present in 3d printed palm.
5- Now assemble everything. Screw servos in its position using the screw holes in the 3d printed arm body.
6- Now assign one servo each to each nger but make sure to use a single servo for ring and pinky/little nger.
7- After that carefully measure the distance of thread required in open nger position and cut the rest.
8- Knot the thread end to servo Horn ( 3d printed Pulleys ) and put a drop of super-glue over it to make good joint so that
it doesn't loosen up under load.
9- Now screw the servo horn ( Start shaped that comes with servo MG995 ) to the back side of 3d printed arm body.
10- Now use a screw and tighten the servo hold to the servo motor that will handle the rotation of wrist movement.
11-Now carefully using the holes in body of arm take wire out of servo and tie them using thread( just to make
everything tidy)
12- Double check your knots and see manually if everything that needs to move is moving in the speci ed manner.

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Step 5: Coding and Trouble Shooting

https://www.youtube.com/embed/P49AZEXEvWU

It is again a straight forward step just make sure the wiring is as per the circuit diagram given.
I used an Arduino Uno for this project as its cheap and can handle the work load of this hand very easily.
The video is of test code, the code given below is upgraded and is written to perform Human Hand like movement. Such
as each nger closing and opening individually, wrist rotation, object pick-drop, peace sign, etc.
I have uploaded a test code to replicate human nger and hand motion you can try it out. Also change code as per your
need and liking.
You can download the .ino le given below.

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Download

https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FU5/T5PS/KR6COX4D/FU5T5PSKR6COX4D.ino

Step 6: Final Overview

Length*= 42cm
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Width**= 10.5cm
Weight***= 580g
Torque= 2.8Kg (each servo)
Gripping strength = ~8Kg
*- from tip of middle nger to elbow join module
**- at the widest point
***- body with motors and circuitry

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i've been searching to create my programmable robotic hip joint using this tech we have today. i
need a left hip replacement, the ball in the socket is flat and and can't do any normal rotation,
asked mit and they don't respond, if we can build a prototype, possibly a surgeon will give it a try,
im ready>
get rid of the weirded music and mayb ill finish watching ur vid

This was a challenging project to build. It is clear that TanmayBenjwal put a lot of effort into
refining previous designs, and building this hand.
I found minor issues, including that the wrist joint part did not have a strong enough connection to
the hand base. So I modified that part. I have provided the changed part to TanmayBenjwal, for
his review, and to publish if he chooses.
this link may get you to the modified Wrist Joint part. It still requires gluing to attach.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MUO49W_RK_nQBdTauIURYIP4NGQSbcJn/view?usp=sharing

The links below are to videos of the resulting hand. The second video shows that I used an old
TV remote control with the a sensor and the Arduino IRremote.h library to select preprogrammed
behaviors.

https://youtu.be/8F9YDZLDUnE

https://youtu.be/NgPWaRBhBk0

Totally cool, and it looks good. Some designs look creepy, but not yours.

Thanks for sharing!

Very nice work, sir!


My first thought on seeing this was "Wouldn't it be great if you could have a 'wearable controller'
that could be operated with the other hand?"
It could be as simple a number of switches that would control the fingers, and another few to
rotate or bend the wrist.
It would allow a person to grip something and hold it while the good hand does something with it
(paint, drill holes, sand, cur, etc.)

Just a thought.
Hey man!
Yeah that's the plan. EMG sensor can be used to control the arm right now but I am working on a
DIY-VR glove one can then control the hand wirelessly and on a software that will use webcam to
mimic your hand movement directly.

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