Computational Modeling and Finite Element Analysis of Bio-Inspired Soft Pneumatic Actuators for Robotic Straightening

  • Authors

    • Mohammad Suhaimi Selomah Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Ma‎laysia
    • Noorhamizah Mohamed Nasir Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Ma‎laysia
    • Jamaludin Jalani Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Ma‎laysia
    • Hisyam Abdul Rahman Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Ma‎laysia
    • Kim Gaik Tay Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Ma‎laysia
    • Danial Md Noor Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Ma‎laysia
    • Mohd Shamian Zainal Department of Electrical Engineering Technology, Faculty of Engineering Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Pagoh ‎Higher Education Hub, 84600 Pagoh, Muar, Johor
    • Saif Huq Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science, Kinsley School of Engineering, Sciences and Technology, York College of Pennsylvania, York, PA, USA
    https://doi.org/10.14419/gpd5y981

    Received date: May 21, 2025

    Accepted date: July 22, 2025

    Published date: September 9, 2025

  • Bioinspired Soft Pneumatic Actuator (BSPA); Finite Element Method (FEM); Stroke Rehabilitation; Soft Robotics, Hand Mobility

  • Abstract

    This study presents the design and analysis of a bioinspired soft pneumatic actuator (BSPA), using the finite element method (FEM), to ‎simulate the opening and closing movements of the human hand. The primary objective was to explore its potential application in assisting ‎stroke survivors during rehabilitation, specifically targeting the treatment of spastic-clenched fist deformities. Drawing inspiration from the ‎biomechanical motion and anatomical structure of the human hand, the actuator was engineered to actively extend while passively flexing, ‎mimicking natural hand movements. Key design parameters, including actuator width (16 mm), wall thickness (2 mm), actuation angles, and ‎chamber dimensions, were fine-tuned through iterative simulation to optimize the actuator’s mechanical response. The design process was ‎conducted using SolidWorks, with subsequent performance evaluation and simulation conducted in Abaqus CAE. Finite element analysis ‎allowed for a detailed examination of the actuator's behavior under different loading conditions, ensuring accurate predictions of its functionality. Simulation results indicated that the BSPA could extend to a 90° angle at a pressure of 110 kPa, demonstrating the potential to ‎mimic full hand extension. Additionally, block force tests showed that the actuator generated a total force reaction of 3N at 80 kPa, a level of ‎force sufficient to fully open the hand when integrated into a soft robotic glove. This force output was carefully evaluated to ensure it pro-‎vided sufficient assistance for stroke survivors experiencing muscle spasticity, without compromising safety or comfort. These findings ‎provide critical insights into the development of soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) for medical and rehabilitative use, particularly for assisting ‎patients with hand mobility impairments. The study highlights the effectiveness of bioinspired designs in creating soft actuators that can ‎reproduce complex biomechanical movements. The results pave the way for further refinement and application of BSPAs in soft robotic ‎gloves for rehabilitation, offering a promising solution for improving the quality of life for stroke survivors by enhancing hand functionality ‎and motor recovery‎.

  • References

    1. P. Polygerinos, K. C. Galloway, E. Savage, M. Herman, K. O’Donnell, and C. J. Walsh, “Soft robotic glove for hand rehabilitation and task-specific training,” in Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2015, pp. 2913–2919. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICRA.2015.7139597.
    2. K. Li, D. Zhang, Y. Chu, and X. Zhao, “Bioinspired Segmented Hybrid Bending Pneumatic Actuators for Rehabilitation/Assisting Training,” in 2023 29th International Conference on Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice, M2VIP 2023, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engi-neers Inc., 2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/M2VIP58386.2023.10413413.
    3. “About Stroke | American Stroke Association.” Accessed: Mar. 28, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.stroke.org/en/about-stroke.
    4. S. A. Khor, K. Sim, A. S. A. Talib, and J. Mohd Taib, “Akademia Baru Upper Limb Post Stroke Rehabilitation Performance Monitoring Tools us-ing Optical Mouse.”
    5. P. Langhorne, F. Coupar, and A. Pollock, “Motor recovery after stroke: a systematic review,” Aug. 2009.
    6. N. Takeuchi and S. I. Izumi, “Rehabilitation with poststroke motor recovery: A review with a focus on neural plasticity,” 2013. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/128641.
    7. K. Nuckols et al., “Effects of a Soft Robotic Glove using a High Repetition Protocol in Chronic Stroke: A Pilot Study,” in Proceedings of the IEEE RAS and EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, 2020, pp. 428–433. https://doi.org/10.1109/BioRob49111.2020.9224291.
    8. S. K. Narudin, N. H. M. Nasir, and N. Fuad, “Brainwave classification of task performed by stroke patients using ANN,” Annals of Emerging Technologies in Computing, vol. 5, no. Special issue 5, pp. 34–40, 2021, https://doi.org/10.33166/AETiC.2021.05.004.
    9. S. B. A. Kamaruddin et al., “The quadriceps muscle of knee joint modelling Using Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization-Neural Network (PSO-NN),” in Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Institute of Physics Publishing, Apr. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/819/1/012029.
    10. Nor Azura Md Ghani, Saadi Bin Ahmad Kamaruddin, Norazan Mohamed Ramli, Noorhamizah Mohamed Nasir, Babul Salam Bin Ksm Kader, Mohammad Saiful Huq, “The quadriceps muscle of knee joint modelling using neural network approach: Part 1” 2016 IEEE Conference on e-Learning, e-Management and e-Services (IC3e): 10th - 12th October 2016, Holiday Villa Resort, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia. IEEE, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICOS39476.2016.10702675.
    11. Y. Jiang et al., “Fishbone-inspired soft robotic glove for hand rehabilitation with multi-degrees-of-freedom,” in 2018 IEEE International Confer-ence on Soft Robotics, RoboSoft 2018, 2018, pp. 394–399. https://doi.org/10.1109/ROBOSOFT.2018.8404951.
    12. J. Lai, A. Song, K. Shi, Q. Ji, Y. Lu, and H. Li, “Design and Evaluation of a Bidirectional Soft Glove for Hand Rehabilitation-Assistance Tasks,” IEEE Trans Med Robot Bionics, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 730–740, Aug. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1109/TMRB.2023.3292414.
    13. P. Polygerinos et al., “Modeling of Soft Fiber-Reinforced Bending Actuators,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 778–789, Jun. 2015, https://doi.org/10.1109/TRO.2015.2428504.
    14. A. D. Marchese, R. K. Katzschmann, and D. Rus, “A recipe for soft fluidic elastomer robots,” Soft Robot, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 7–25, Mar. 2015, https://doi.org/10.1089/soro.2014.0022.
    15. J. Wang, Y. Fei, and W. Pang, “Design, Modeling, and Testing of a Soft Pneumatic Glove with Segmented PneuNets Bending Actuators,” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 990–1001, Jun. 2019, https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2019.2911992.
    16. Hu, Di, Jing Zhang, Yan Yang, Qiang Li, Da Li, and Jian Hong. "A Novel Soft Robotic Glove with Positive-Negative Pneumatic Actuator for Hand Rehabilitation." In IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), 2020, 1840–1847. https://doi.org/10.1109/AIM43001.2020.9158826.
    17. Lai, J., A. Song, K. Shi, Q. Ji, Y. Lu, and H. Li. "Design and Evaluation of a Bidirectional Soft Glove for Hand Rehabilitation-Assistance Tasks." IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics 5, no. 3 (2023): 730–740. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMRB.2023.3292414.
    18. Boka, T., M. N. Nikkhah, and S. A. A. Moosavian. "KNTU-RoboGlove: Design of a Pneumatic Soft Robotic Glove." In 11th RSI International Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics (ICRoM 2023), 2023, 470–475. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICRoM60803.2023.10412614.
    19. Kokubu, S., P. E. T. Vinocour, and W. Yu. "Development and Evaluation of Fiber Reinforced Modular Soft Actuators and an Individualized Soft Rehabilitation Glove." Robotics and Autonomous Systems 171 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2023.104571.
    20. Do, Phan T., Dao T. Vo, and Hoang P. Le. "A Soft Pneumatic Robotic Glove for Hand Rehabilitation after Stroke." In 2021 20th International Conference on Advanced Robotics (ICAR 2021), 2021, 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICAR53236.2021.9659404.
    21. Wang, Junxiao, Yanjie Fei, and W. Pang. "Design, Modeling, and Testing of a Soft Pneumatic Glove with Segmented PneuNets Bending Actua-tors." IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics 24, no. 3 (2019): 990–1001. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2019.2911992.
    22. M. C. Hume, H. Gellman, H. McKellop, R. H. Brumfield, and L. Angeles, “Functional the hand range of motion of the joints of.”
    23. T. N. Moorthy, N. Raihan, and B. Zulkifly, “Regression analysis for stature determination from hand anthropometry of Malaysian Malays for fo-rensic investigation,” 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283258648.
    24. P. Polygerinos, Z. Wang, K. C. Galloway, R. J. Wood, and C. J. Walsh, “Soft robotic glove for combined assistance and at-home rehabilitation,” Rob Auton Syst, vol. 73, pp. 135–143, 2015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2014.08.014.
    25. P. Kulkarni, “Centrifugal Forming and Mechanical Properties of Silicone-Based Elastomers for Soft Robotic Actuators,” 2015.
    26. Panagiotis Polygerinos et al., “Towards a Soft Pneumatic Glove for Hand Rehabilitation,” 2013. https://doi.org/10.1109/IROS.2013.6696549.
    27. Li, Kai, Dan Zhang, Yutong Chu, and Xuan Zhao. "Bioinspired Segmented Hybrid Bending Pneumatic Actuators for Rehabilitation/Assisting Training." In 2023 29th International Conference on Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice (M2VIP 2023), 2023. https://doi.org/10.1109/M2VIP58386.2023.10413413.
    28. Lai, J. "A Novel Soft Glove Utilizing Honeycomb Pneumatic Actuators (HPAs) for Assisting Activities of Daily Living." IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering 31 (2023): 3223–3233. https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2023.3302612.
    29. Koizumi, S. "Soft Robotic Gloves with Thin McKibben Muscles for Hand Assist and Rehabilitation."
    30. Souhail, A., and P. Vessakosol. "Low Cost Soft Robotic Gloves for At-Home Rehabilitation and Daily Living Activities." Journal of Automation, Mobile Robotics and Intelligent Systems 13, no. 3 (2019): 14–26. https://doi.org/10.14313/JAMRIS/3-2019/22.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Selomah , M. S. ., Nasir , N. M. ., Jalani , J. ., Rahman , H. A. ., Tay , K. G. ., Noor , D. M. ., Zainal , M. S. ., & Huq , S. . (2025). Computational Modeling and Finite Element Analysis of Bio-Inspired Soft Pneumatic Actuators for Robotic Straightening. International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 14(5), 306-315. https://doi.org/10.14419/gpd5y981