Dexterous Robot’s Finger Actuated by Pneumatic Artificial Muscle

2011 ◽  
Vol 383-390 ◽  
pp. 920-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Jing Guo ◽  
Kai Wang
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Steel Wire ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Force Sensor ◽  
Middle Finger ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Pneumatic Muscle ◽  
Theoretical Support ◽  
Muscle Actuators ◽  
Three Degrees Of Freedom

Through the structural analysis of hand, using mechatronics ideas, robot fingers based on Pneumatic Muscle Actuators (PMA) is designed and manufactured. Referring to the proportion of manual hand, the finger has three degrees of freedom. The far and middle finger joints are coupled of steel wire transmission mechanism, while the middle finger knuckle and the root are driven by a pair of artificial muscles. In order to realize the feedback control of displacement and the tactile force, the finger’s three joints are installed with three R24HS potentiometer and the fingertip is installed with the touch force sensor. The finger design integrates with mechanical structure, sensing, control and driving system. It achieves the integration and modularization in a maximum extent and completes the full theoretical support and experimental verification for the next step integration design of the flexible bionic robot hand.

Developing a Novel Robotic Fish With Antagonistic Artificial Muscle Actuators

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar Rajendran ◽  
Feitian Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Dissipation ◽  
Weight Ratio ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Robotic Fish ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Underwater Robotics ◽  
Closed Loop System ◽  
Underwater Robots ◽  
Muscle Actuators ◽  
Novel Design

Super-coiled polymer (SCP), one of the newly-developed artificial muscles, has various advantages over traditional artificial muscles in terms of cost, flexibility and power-to-weight ratio. This paper investigates the performance of super-coiled polymer-based actuation in underwater robotics, and presents a novel design of robotic fish using antagonistic SCP actuators. Dynamic model of the robot is derived. An example robotic fish prototype is developed and used in experiments to study SCP actuation for underwater robots. Furthermore, experimental results show that using SCP actuators in robotic fish solves the challenging heat-dissipation problem at ease, thus improving the dynamic response of SCP actuation significantly. A PID controller is designed to regulate the tail flap angle of the designed robotic fish. Simulation results of the closed-loop system are presented to validate the proposed robot design and actuation approach.

scholarly journals AN REHABILITATION ROBOT DRIVEN BY PNEUMATIC ARTIFICIAL MUSCLES

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (09) ◽  
pp. 2040008 ◽  
Author(s):  
JUN ZHONG ◽  
DONGKAI HE ◽  
CHUN ZHAO ◽  
YUE ZHU ◽  
QIANZHUANG ZHANG
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
Rehabilitation Robot ◽  
Pneumatic Muscle ◽  
Rehabilitation Robots ◽  
Ankle Rehabilitation ◽  
Human Ankle ◽  
Movement Ability ◽  
Motion Characteristics ◽  
Muscle Actuators

Rehabilitation robots are playing an important role in restoring movement ability of hemiplegic patients. However, most of these robots adopt motors as actuators. Considering human body is a flexible organism, rigid motors lack compliance when getting in touch with patients. This paper designs an ankle rehabilitation robot by employing pneumatic muscle actuators which are soft and have similar compliance with biological muscles. Analysis of motion characteristics of human ankle is performed, and relationship between angle and torque of human ankle acquired from experiment is studied. Driving mechanism using pneumatic muscle actuators is addressed carefully and ankle-rehabilitation robot is designed. Then, dynamics of the robot is established and structure optimization of the driving mechanism is performed. Consequently, prototype is manufactured and assembled.

Magnetically-doped polydimethylsiloxane for artificial muscle applications

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (01) ◽  
pp. 1950089
Author(s):  
Erik Ventura ◽  
Cagri Oztan ◽  
Diego Palacios ◽  
Irene Isabel Vargas ◽  
Emrah Celik
Keyword(s):  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Mechanical Response ◽  
Load Capacity ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Method Of Production ◽  
Muscle Actuators ◽  
Doped Polymer

Artificial muscle actuators demonstrate great potential for improving the quality of life. Recently, polymer muscle actuators have attracted attention due to their inexpensive and highly versatile methods of fabrication along with decent mechanical properties that can mimic those of natural muscles. The aim of this research is to investigate the usability of a magnetite-doped polymer powder, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), for artificial muscle actuators through an inexpensive method of production. PDMS samples doped with different levels of magnetite were fabricated using molds that were produced by additive manufacturing. Subsequently, the samples were magnetically and mechanically characterized by investigation of strength, elastic modulus, failure strain and permittivity, which are vital to meet the load capacity. The test results demonstrated that the mechanical and magnetic properties could be tailored as a function of doping level. Matching the mechanical response of these artificial components to those of artificial muscles will reduce the residual stresses, enhance the artificial muscle life and allow wider use of these materials for biomedical applications. This research rendered fabrication of molds possible for various applications where geometric customization of the actuator is required to meet endure severe loads, thanks to the freeform nature of additive manufacturing.

scholarly journals Safety-enhanced control strategy of a power soft robot driven by hydraulic artificial muscles

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yunhao Feng ◽  
Tohru Ide ◽  
Hiroyuki Nabae ◽  
Gen Endo ◽  
Ryo Sakurai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategy ◽  
Impedance Control ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Dynamic Compliance ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Soft Robot ◽  
Compliant Structure ◽  
Safety Features ◽  
Muscle Actuators ◽  
Sudden Load

AbstractPower soft robots—defined as novel robots driven by powerful soft actuators, achieving both powerfulness and softness—are potentially suitable for complex collaborative tasks, and an approach to actuating a power soft robot is the McKibben artificial muscle. This study aims to show the potential of hydraulic artificial muscles to be implemented in a power soft robot with high safety, including higher stability against sudden load separation or impact disturbance, and appropriate dynamic compliance. The stability of a manipulator arm driven by hydraulic muscle actuators is experimentally proven to be higher than that of pneumatic muscle actuators when the stored elastic energy is instantaneously released. Therefore, the hydraulic muscle actuator is a better candidate for actuating a power soft robot. By taking advantage of the incompressible liquid medium and the compliant structure of a hydraulic muscle, a second-order impedance control strategy with a braking method is proposed to improve dynamic compliance without sacrificing the safety features of hydraulic muscles. The results show that the manipulator can be easily shifted by a several-kilogram-level external force and react safely against sudden load change with low angular velocity by the proposed impedance control.

Numerical Framework and Design Optimization of an Intrinsically Compliant 3-DOF Parallel Robot

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahid Hussain ◽  
Prashant K. Jamwal ◽  
Akim Kapsalyamov ◽  
Mergen H. Ghayesh
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Parallel Robot ◽  
Singularity Analysis ◽  
Parallel Robots ◽  
Simultaneous Optimization ◽  
Design Synthesis ◽  
Pneumatic Muscle ◽  
Nonlinear Motion ◽  
Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm ◽  
Muscle Actuators

Abstract Parallel robots are multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs) systems that are typically used in applications characterized by enhanced accuracy, rigidity, and large force requirements within a compact workspace. In the present research, an intrinsically compliant parallel robot with 3-DOFs, actuated using four pneumatic muscle actuators (PMA), is conceptualized, developed, and analyzed. Despite many benefits, parallel robots also offer certain challenges that arise from the highly coupled and nonlinear motion of their actuators. The small workspace of parallel robots has many singularities and solving a closed-form forward kinematics (FK) for its end-effector motion is complicated. The PMAs can provide intrinsically compliant robotic motions, however, since they are flexible, their unilateral actuation also poses constraints on the achievable DOFs. The present research focuses on analyzing kinematics and dynamics of the developed parallel robot incorporating the stiffness together with force closure analyses besides suggesting design improvements as a consequence of the singularity analysis. Design synthesis and multi-criteria optimization have been performed to obtain a robot design which may provide higher accuracies (near unity condition number), quick response to external wrench (stiffness and rigidity), and reduced actuator force requirements. SPEA2 (Improved Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm) has been implemented to carry out the simultaneous optimization of design objectives and provide Pareto optimal design solutions.

Energetic and Dynamic Effects of Operating Fluid on Fluidic Artificial Muscle Actuators

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael A. Meller ◽  
Matthew J. Bryant ◽  
Ephrahim Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Dynamic Tests ◽  
Pneumatic Artificial Muscles ◽  
Vibration Experiment ◽  
Strain Relationship ◽  
Effective Spring Constant ◽  
Muscle Actuators ◽  
Hydraulic Operation

Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) are a relatively common type of lightweight, fluid power actuation. Some disadvantages of PAMs include the compressibility of the working fluid and low damping. These characteristics result in low efficiencies, poor dynamic response, as well as undesired oscillations of the actuators. This paper presents utilizing hydraulic liquid as the working fluid instead of compressed air. Hydraulic operation resulted in almost triple the efficiency of pneumatic operation. The artificial muscles are experimentally characterized both quasi-statically and dynamically. The quasi-static experiments include the tension-strain relationship as a function of pressure, and an actuator net work efficiency analysis. The dynamic tests consist of a free vibration experiment to determine the change in effective spring constant and damping terms. These experiments are conducted for both PAMs and HAMs (hydraulic artificial muscles), and the results are presented herein.

A nested pneumatic muscle arrangement for amplified stroke and force behavior

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1139-1156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaotian Zhang ◽  
Girish Krishnan
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Length ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Pneumatic Artificial Muscle ◽  
Pneumatic Muscle ◽  
Pneumatic Artificial Muscles ◽  
In Series ◽  
Membrane Bending ◽  
Actual Shape ◽  
Application Requirements

This article presents a compact nested architecture to amplify the displacement and forces of pneumatic artificial muscles for potential use in human assistive devices and other robotic applications. The nested architecture consists of several levels in series, and each level is made up of contracting pneumatic muscles, passive force transfer members, and additively manufactured interconnects. The stroke obtained from the nested pneumatic artificial muscle architecture is not always beneficial and is limited by the length-dependent behavior of pneumatic artificial muscles and other practical manufacturing constraints such as the size of the interconnects. Thus, this article studies the effect of the pneumatic artificial muscle length on its stroke using a modified constrained volume maximization formulation, which predicts the actual shape of the deformed pneumatic artificial muscle, and models additional stiffness due to membrane bending. Using this formulation, a framework is presented to optimally design the number of nested levels and individual actuators in each level to obtain a required stroke. Such a system is designed to actuate the human elbow by an angle of 80°, where almost 40% contraction is obtained using custom-manufactured pneumatic artificial muscles inherently capable of contracting upto 17% of its length. The framework can be used to amplify the stroke and forces of any pneumatic artificial muscle actuator and adapt it to different application requirements.

AN EMPIRICAL APPROACH TO MODELING PRESSURE BUILDING-UP PROCESS INSIDE PNEUMATIC ARTIFICIAL MUSCLE ACTUATORS

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (08) ◽  
pp. 1840031
Author(s):  
JUN ZHONG
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Linear System ◽  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Industrial Applications ◽  
Rubber Tube ◽  
Pneumatic Artificial Muscle ◽  
Pneumatic Muscle ◽  
Driving Mode ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Muscle Actuators

Pneumatic muscle actuators (PMAs) have great potential in robotics and industrial applications. However, high non-linearities hamper the further applications in accurate performances. Pressure built-up process is highly non-linear due to non-linear elasticity of rubber tube of the PMA and air driving mode, and brings great challenges in approximation. This paper analyzes the experimental responses of charging and discharging process, respectively, and employs second-order linear system to model the charging and discharging dynamics inside PMA. Experiments are performed to validate the effectiveness of the established models and comparison between simulated curves and experimental data indicates that the built-up models can capture the dynamics of pressure changing processes inside PMA.

An Education-Oriented Robotic Anthropomorphic Hand System

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molei Wu ◽  
Alexander Kandra ◽  
Xiangrong Shen
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Control Device ◽  
Educational Outreach ◽  
Robotic Hand ◽  
Pneumatic Muscle ◽  
Hand Motion ◽  
Muscle Actuators ◽  
Education Outreach ◽  
Natural Way

In this paper, an interactive robotic anthropomorphic hand system is presented, which was developed as an important tool for the educational outreach activities. The robotic anthropomorphic hand incorporates 15 degrees of freedom, providing sufficient mobility in the demonstration of various postures. To increase the attractiveness of the robotic hand, pneumatic muscle actuators are used to drive the robotic hand motion through artificial tendons. The interaction of the robotic hand with a human is enabled with a control device, which allows the human operator to control the hand motion in a natural way. The robotic hand system has been successfully demonstrated in a recent engineering education outreach event, in which over 100 children at all ages operated the robotic hand through the control device.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document