IEEE/ASME TMECH · 2026
Design and Evaluation of a Dual-HSA Compliant Wrist Module for Prosthetic Applications
A compact dual-cylinder architecture combines active flexion/extension and pronation/supination with passive compliance.
Design animation and prototype footage. Quantitative findings are reported in the paper and refer to its specific test conditions.
Who may find this useful
Prosthetic wrist designers, researchers in assistive robotics, and engineers developing compliant rotary mechanisms.
What the mechanism contributes
- Tailored HSA geometry for bidirectional loading
- Active flexion/extension and pronation/supination
- Mechanical characterization and IMU-based posture stabilization
Evidence & scope
The paper reports approximately 49.6° F/E and 72.3° P/S motion range, approximately 4.1 N·m drive torque, and over 5.8 N·m load torque under the tested conditions. Validation is on a benchtop prototype, without a clinical user trial.
Abstract
Conventional rigid prosthetic wrists often provide limited degrees of freedom and poor passive adaptability under external loading. To address this limitation, this work proposes a flexible prosthetic wrist based on dual handed shearing auxetic (HSA) cylinders for active flexion/extension (F/E) and pronation/supination (P/S). A wrist-oriented HSA unit design is introduced by combining a transformed lever pattern with a tailored lever angle to improve bidirectional load capability within a compact dualcylinder architecture. A combined geometric/mechanical analysis and finite-element simulation framework is then established to investigate the influence of the main design variables on wrist functionality and performance. Based on this process, an optimized design is selected, fabricated via mold-casting, and validated experimentally using a tailored test platform integrating servo actuation, IMU sensing, and load-cell measurement. The prototype achieves approximately 49.6 ◦ F/E and 72.3◦ P/S motion range, about 4.1-N·m drive torque, and over 5.8-N·m load torque, while preserving near-linear torque–angle behavior ( R 2 up to 0.99). An IMU-based proportional–integral– differential closed-loop test demonstrates the stabilization of the output-cap posture under distal loading. These results support the feasibility of handed-shearing-auxeticbased compact compliant wrist modules for prosthetic applications.
Cite the published paper
@article{Zhang2026wrist2,
title = {Design and Evaluation of a Dual-HSA Compliant Wrist Module for Prosthetic Applications},
author = {Xiaoqian Zhang and Xiyin Rong and Mario Baggetta and Cristina Piazza and Giovanni Berselli},
journal = {IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1109/TMECH.2026.3691678}
}Author manuscripts are provided for individual scholarly use. IEEE copyrights and reuse restrictions apply; please cite the final published version.