We introduce a vacuum-powered soft pneumatic actuator (V-SPA) which leverages a single, shared vacuum power supply and enables complex soft robotic systems with multiple-DoF and diverse functions. In addition to actuation, other utilities enabled by vacuum pressure include gripping and stiffening through granular media jamming, as well as direct suction adhesion to smooth surfaces, for manipula...

Current efforts are focused on assembling new constructions while applying non-conventional actuators, for example, artificial pneumatic muscles, in engineering manufacturing processes. The reason is to eliminate stiffness and inflexibility of equipment structures that make sharing the working space technological complicated. This article presents results experimental measurements pressures mus...

Although braided pneumatic actuators are capable of producing phenomenal forces compared to their weight, they have yet to see mainstream use due to their relatively short fatigue lives. By improving manufacturing techniques, actuator lifetime was extended by nearly an order of magnitude. Another concern is that their response times may be too long for control of legged robots. In addition, the...

Pneumatic technology has been successfully applied for over two millennia. Even today, pneumatic cylinder based technology forms the keystone of many manufacturing processes where there is a need for simple, high-speed, low-cost, reliable motion. But when the system requires accurate control of position, velocity or acceleration profiles, these actuators form a far from satisfactory solution. B...

This paper presents a detailed AMT model composed of various components from multi-domains like mechanical systems (clutch, gear pair, synchronizer, etc.), pneumatic actuator systems (clutch actuation system, gear select actuation system, gear shift actuation system, etc.). The model is implemented using the Modelica modeling language in an objectoriented environment. The Modeling and simulatio...

Pneumatic Artificial Muscle (PAM) yields natural muscle-like actuator with high force to weight ratio, soft and flexible structure, and adaptable compliance for rehabilitation and prosthetic appliances to the disabled. To obtain optimum design and usage, there is significance to understand mechanical behavior of the PAM. In this study, experimental results reveal empirical modeling for relation...

This paper reports mechanical tasting and modeling results for the McKibben artificial muscle pneumatic actuator. This device, first developed in the 1950’s, contains an expanding tube surrounded by braided cords. We report static and dynamic length-tension testing results and derive a linearized model of these properties for three different models. The results are brieffy compared with human m...