A Computational Stress Analysis of Active

Prosthetic Hand “Asto Hand V4” for the

Loaded Hook Position
2021 IEEE International Biomedical Instrumentation and Technology Conference (IBITeC) | 978-1-6654-4179-7/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IBITeC53045.2021.9649242

Gilar Pandu Annanto Ismoyo Haryanto Rifky Ismail

Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Diponegoro University, Semarang,
Central Java, Indonesia.
Center for Biomechanics Biomaterials
Biomechatronics and Biosignal
processing (CBIOM3S),
Diponegoro University, Semarang,
Central Java, Indonesia
gilarpanduannanto@gmail.com
Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Diponegoro University, Semarang,
Central Java, Indonesia.
Center for Biomechanics Biomaterials
Biomechatronics and Biosignal
processing (CBIOM3S),
Diponegoro University, Semarang,
Central Java, Indonesia
ismoyo2001@yahoo.de
Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Diponegoro University,
Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia
Center for Biomechanics Biomaterials
Biomechatronics and Biosignal
processing (CBIOM3S),
Diponegoro University
Semarang, Indonesia
rifky_ismail@ft.undip.ac.id

Abstract—Upper limb disabilities become a serious concern
in Indonesia. By that, an active prosthetic hand become a
market demand. There were already active prosthetic hand
products in the market, which most of them were manufactured
by other countries, yet they rarely fit to Indonesian citizen,
neither for the price nor the size. Based in these problem,
Diponegoro University conducted research on active prosthetic
hand to provide solution for the problem that currently faced
by the Indonesian citizen especially for trans-radial amputee
patient. Asto Hand V4 was expected to be useful and suitable
for Indonesian, in terms of price and size. In order to ensure the
reliability of the product, the design safety becomes the main
concern in the development. This paper investigated the
capability of the Asto Hand under the hook load using a
computational stress analysis. Based on the finite element
analysis for the hook position, it was known that the lowest
safety factor in Asto Hand V4 was occur in palm component
with the value 2.17. The study concludes that Asto Hand V4 was
capable to withstand the load during hook position and it can
be declared that Asto Hand V4 is safe to perform hook position.
Keywords— Active prosthetic hand, Stress analysis, Hook
I. INTRODUCTION
According to the survey data that gathered by statistics
in National Socio-Economic Survey in Indonesia, there were
2.45% of Indonesian citizen who have disabilities [1].
Ministry of Social Affairs of Indonesia also release a report
that about 119.529 citizen were people who had disabilities
in fingers and arms [2]. These reports inform that the number
of disabilities cannot simply ignored. Indonesia had a clear
policy about disabilities written in the Indonesian
Constitution (UU) No. 4 of 1997. The constitution said that
in the implementation of national development aimed at
creating a just and prosperous society based on Pancasila as
the ideology of the nation, citizens with disabilities were part
of Indonesian society who also have the same position, rights,
obligations, and roles [3]. The policy was clearly explained
that Indonesian government must provide every supporting
device or facility for disabilities so they can perform daily
activities with ease. Still, lot of citizens with disabilities were
lack of access with their support devices [4].
Citizen with hand disabilities still using passive
prosthetic hand that perform only as cosmetic. Passive
prosthetic design did not implement any moving mechanism
so it cannot be used in performing daily activities [5]. Market
already had a fully function of active prosthetic hand like Ada
Hand [6], Bebionic [7], iLimb [7] etc. These active prosthetic
hand had been designed with a great performance to be used
in daily activities, still, the price of these active prosthetic
hand was too high to be affordable for the majority of
Indonesian citizen.
In order to solve the problem, team of engineers from
Center of Excellence CBOM3S Diponegoro University
initiated developing a low-cost active prosthetic hand. The
initial research was started by Nurmiranto and Ariyanto in
2016 by developing a 3D animation of prosthetic hand that
can be controlled using flex sensor [8]. In the same year,
Pakpahan collaborated with Ariyanto to take the project
further by creating the first prototype of active prosthetic
hand that using called Asto Hand V1. The V1 prototype was
using DC motor to move the prosthetic hand [4]. Followed by
Mustaqim and Ariyanto, in 2016, the first prototype of Asto
Hand V1 was upgraded with lead screw motor/linear actuator
instead DC motor as the main component for moving
mechanism [5]. The upgrade contribute to the increase of the
performance and the movement was smoother than Asto
Hand V1, hence the name of Asto Hand V1 was changed to
Asto Hand V2. In 2017, Yuandi and Ariyanto continued the
research project of Asto Hand to ensure that Asto Hand was
ready to be used in the real condition. The Asto Hand then
receive the final form of active prosthetic hand that can be
fitted with a socket and then tested with trans-radial amputee
[9].
The active prosthetic hand developed by Diponegoro
University can fulfill the needs of both function and finance
for trans radial amputee, especially in Indonesia. The Asto
Hand V3 can be fitted to adult trans radial amputee, but the
problem raised when the Asto Hand V3 was tried by teenager
or younger patient because the Asto Hand V3 only comes
with a size of adult. Asto Hand V4 resolve the current
problem by reducing its size and maximize the space to put
electronic more efficient. Figure 1 shows the model of Asto
Hand V4.

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 A. Geometry Model
The geometry used in this study was the whole component
of Asto Hand V4. The whole component was divided into 4
main parts. The components were: top finger component
shown in Fig 3, base finger component shown in Fig 4, palm
component shown in Fig 5, and arm component shown in Fig
6. The simulation model was all using hook position as the
main load.

Fig 1. Active prosthetic hand: Asto V.4

The performance of Asto Hand V4 showed good result

when used in holding any object as shown as in Fig 2. The
present study is intended to investigate the ability of Asto
Hand V4 under the load in hook position.
Fig 1. Top finger of Asto hand V4

Fig 2. Base finger of Asto hand V4

Fig 3. Palm of Asto hand V4

Fig 2. Asto hand V4 grasps several objects and performs its ability in
handling it correctly.

II. MATERIALS DAN METHODS

This section discusses about the geometry modelling,
material properties and finite element simulation steps.

Fig 4. Arm of Asto hand V4

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B. Materials D. Computational Stress Analysis
All of the components in this research were made from This research utilized a computational stress analysis in
poly-lactic acid (PLA) as the main material. PLA was finite element simulation for measuring the ability of the Asto
selected due its simplicity and widely used in 3D printing hand V4 during loaded hook activity. The finite element
technology. Current PLA also had good mechanical simulation is one of the cheapest methods in measuring the
properties. The mechanical properties of PLA can be seen in ability of the parts/components in receiving the applied load.
Table 1. A finite element software divided the components into
numerous elements to measure the displacements of the
elements during the applied load. The results then presented
TABLE I. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF PLA [10]
in von-Mises stress criteria to help the engineers in
Material Units Value interpreting the predicted stress. Then, the safety factors
Density g/cm 3
1.24 could be calculated in supporting the results to ensure how
safe the components during receiving the load during in hook
Elastic modulus MPa 3500 position.
Shear modulus MPa 1287 Constraint

Poisson’s ratio - 0.36

Yield strength MPa 70
Ultimate tensile
MPa 73
strength
Elongation % ~7

C. Boundary Condition
Static simulation was conducted in order to determine
the stress that occur in every component of prosthetic hand. Hook Load
In this study, the static simulation was based on Jones, et al.’s
work [11]. In Jones work, the total load at hook position, Wh, Fig 5. Boundary condition in upper finger.
is 112.8 N. This load was assumed as the common load
received by the fingers during hook position [11]. This total Reaction force for Constraint
load then divided into the number of fingers that would be previous part
simulated. Since the load occur mostly on the lower finger,
the upper finger applied with 49 N load which distributed
along each finger. Fig 7 shows the boundary condition of the
upper finger. Red arrow shows the force based on the Jones
work and orange arrow show the location of the constraint.
The reaction force resulted from the constraint in Fig 7
will be used as load value to be applied on the lower finger.
Fig 8 shows the boundary condition of the lower finger.
Orange arrows show the location where the reaction force
that acquired from upper finger. The red arrow shows the
direction and area of the load 63.8 N, based on Jones et al.
works [11]. The green arrow shows the constraint location of
the lower finger. Fig 9 shows the boundary condition on palm Hook Load
components. The green arrow shows the reaction force that
acquired from the constrain on lower finger in Fig 8. This Fig 6. Boundary condition in lower finger.
reaction force is used as a load for the palm components.
Since each finger had nearly similar sizes, the load at 4 joints
in the palm was assumed to be the same. The blue arrow
shows the constraint of the palm. The constraint area was the
surface of the wrist area since this area had direct contact with
the arm component.
Figure 10 shows the boundary condition of the arm
component. The blue arrow shows the reaction force that
acquired from the constrain in the palm (in Fig 9). The black
arrow shows the constraint of the arm, this area will be
connected to socket that will be fitted on stump.

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 Reaction force for
previous part
Constraint

Fig 9. Stress distribution in upper finger part.

Fig 7. Boundary condition in palm.

Reaction force for Constraint

previous part

Fig 10. Stress distribution in lower finger part.

Fig 8. Boundary condition in arm.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A. Results
The result of the simulation is presented using von Mises
stress criteria. Fig 11 shows the stress distribution in upper
finger. It can be seen that the maximum von-Mises stress
occur in upper finger was 8.87 MPa and the reaction force, Fx
, Fy, Fz, that occurs in the constraint of upper finger was -45
N, -12.25 N, -1.51 e-8 N respectively. The results of the
reaction forces are used to conduct the simulation for the
lower finger. Fig 11. Stress distribution in palm part.
Fig 12 shows the von-Mises stress distribution in the
lower finger, based on the reaction force in Fig 11. From Fig
12, it is known that the lower finger receives the maximum
von-Mises stress in joint area that connect to the upper finger
with the value of 8.54 MPa. The reaction force for Fx , Fy, Fz
in lower finger were 44.9 N, 17 N, 2.21 N.
Fig 13 shows the von-Mises stress distribution in the palm
area. The maximum stress in palm area was located in the
connecting area between palm and arms with value 33.67
MPa. The reaction force in palm constrain were 113.31 N,
75.02 N, -45.34 N for Fx , Fy, and Fz, respectively. The von-
Mises stress and reaction forces increase due to the longer
distance from the initial force to the constraint. Fig 12. Stress distribution in arm
Fig 14 shows the von-Mises stress distribution in arm
component. It can be seen that the maximum stress occurs in
the connection between palm and arm with the value of 17.60
MPa. Table 2. Show the summary of each component.

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 TABLE II. VON-MISES STRESSES AND REACTION FORCES FOR EACH Based on Fig 15, the distance betwee palm and arm is
ACTIVE PROSTHETIC HAND PARTS
reduced from 163 mm to 141 mm which decrease around
Stress Reaction Force (N) 13%. The smaller size of the V4 version reduce the mass from
Component (MPa) Fx Fy Fz the previous version V3.5, 892 gr, to be 564 gr. The mass
Upper Finger 8.87 -45 -12.25 -1.51e-008
reduction is around 37% which helps the user receives the
lower load in their below elbow stump. Related to the weight
Lower Finger 8.54 44.9 17 2.21 reduction, the V4 version has the lighter mass compare to the
Palm 33.67 113.31 75.02 -45.34 other active prosthetic hand, such as: The Roboarm, which
Arm 17.6 - reported as the heaviest prosthetic hand because the complete
arm, made from plastic is around 2 kg [12]. The other
prosthetic arm reported by O’Neill has the weighs of 960 g
With respect to the ultimate tensile strength of the PLA
[13]. This includes a socket, but excludes the haptic feedback
material, 70 MPa, it can be seen that every component of the
sensors. However, this active prosthetic hand is still heavier
active prosthetic hand does not exceed the limits. This can
compare to the weight of the prosthesis which developed by
results show that every part able to withstand the load due to
Andrianesis et al. [14], around is 350 g, including a cosmetic
hook position. In order to calculate the safety, a non-
glove, but excluding the 180-g battery.
dimensional factor can be calculated using Equation (1).
The reduction in the Asto hand V4 dimension increase the
protentional use of the prosthetic hand for the Indonesian
Fs = (1) teenagers or Indonesian people with the smaller physical
posture. As mentioned in the research background, it was
Based on the calculation using Eq.1, it can be known that found that the Asto hand V3.5 looked bigger for the teenager
the safety factor of each component was >2. The smallest user, around 13 y.o. This study participant did not feel
safety factor was located in the palm component with a value comfartable with the prostetic hand dimension. The new
of 2.08. By the safety factor value >1.5, the Asto Hand V4 dimension in Asto hand V4 will cover this problem.
was considered safe when to use in hook position.
IV. CONCLUSION
B. Discussions
Since a low-cost prosthetic hand has become a need,
This paper proposes the new dimension of the active center of excellence CBIOM3S Undip had contributed in the
prosthetic hand Asto hand V4 which smaller and lighter development of active prosthetic hand especially for
compare to the previous version, Asto hand V3.5. Figure 15 Indonesian people. Asto Hand V4 was the latest version of
(a-b) shows the comparison between two main dimensions active prosthetic hand which answer the issue in the
of Asto hand V3.5 and V4. The new dimension of Asto hand dimension and weight. With the smaller dimension, the stress
V4 is reduced at the fingers and palm size and also at the arm analysis was conducted to ensure the ability of this prosthetic
size. The V4 also changes the location of the linear motor hand in receiving the load for the hook position. From the
from the palm to the arm to reduce the torsion which must computational analysis using finite element method, it can be
be receive by the user. concluded that the lowest safety factor in Asto Hand V4 is
occurred in palm component with the value of 2.17. The study
shows that Asto Hand V4 is capable to withstand the load due
to hook position for every part of the prosthetic components.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
P A
The authors thank the Deputy for Strengthening Research
and Development, the Ministry of Research and Technology,
Higher Education, the Republic of Indonesia for research
funding under “Riset Pengembangan” of number: 101-
(a) 180/UN 7.6.1/PP/2020.

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