There are a number of diseases and disabilities that cause major problems for a person’s ability to act in everyday life in the area of a hand. This is especially the case when the ability to grasp, the grasping itself, can only take place with limited movement and/or limited use of strength. Various disabilities or diseases such as arthrosis in the hand area, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis or gout lead to this phenomenon. But also other neurological damages, caused e.g. by stroke or accidental damages, lead to big problems in coping with everyday life due to the reduced access power of the hand, especially of the fingers. The project aims at developing a novel human-machine interaction element to artificially enhance the finger strength of fingers that can still be activated by the patient but are more or less powerless. A silicon lithium ion actuator is to be developed that can be integrated into the textile surface of a textile exoskeleton glove system. In the Leibniz-IPHT subproject, the material basis for the actuator layer system is being developed. The goal is an actuator element that manages with low electrical voltages and, based on textile base material, combines all the advantages of a smart textile in terms of flexibility, lightness, elasticity and low volume/height while providing sufficient force. On request via a sensor in the glove, the actuator is activated by applying a low voltage and the fingers are supported by force. When the access action is to be terminated by the user, the actuator is reactivated sensorically by changing the voltage direction.

The project is funded by VDI KMU-innovativ: Mensch-Tech under the number 16SV8657.