Introducing Pleated Pneumatic Artificial Muscles for the Actuation of Legged Robots : a One-dimensional Setup

This paper reports on the use of a new actuator, called Pleated Pneumatic Artificial Muscle, in a one dimensional set-up, it is build as a footless leg with only the knee powered by a pair of Pleated Pneumatic Artificial Muscles. The main goal of this study is the evaluation of the adaptable passive behaviour of these Artificial Muscles in a leg, which can be exploited for an energy efficient way of walking for legged robots. The new actuator and its specific advantages for the use in legged robots will be discussed as well as the concept of the one dimensional set-up. It will be shown that a large amount of energy during a jump can be recuperated and continuous jumping can easily be achieved with low gauge pressures.