This paper presents the nonlinear dynamics and sliding mode control design for a 1-DOF needle insertion robot. The robot actuator is an MR-compatible pneumatic piston-cylinder. A brief review of the dynamics for this type of actuator is provided. The reaction force of tissue on the needle remains an unknown for which our controller compensates. A sliding mode control law is formulated that reli...

Recently, virtual reality systems that feed back to human senses have only been realized as visual and acoustic feedback. However, they are not enough to realize the force feedback system for hands, arms, legs and so on. The actuators required for such a system need to be flexible so as not to injure the body. The purpose of our study is to develop a flexible and lightweight actuator which can ...

Pleated pneumatic artificial muscles (PPAMs), which have recently been developed at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Mechanical Engineering are brought forward as robotic actuators in this paper. Their distinguishing feature is their pleated design, as a result of which their contraction forces and maximum displacement are very high compared to other pneumatic artificial muscles. T...

This article presents the development and control of a novel hybrid controlled vertical climbing robot based on Pneumatic Muscle Actuators (PMAs). PMAs are highly non– linear pneumatic actuators where their elongation is proportional to the internal pressure. The vertical sliding of the robot is based on four PMAs and through the combined and sequential contraction–extension of the pneumatic mu...

Self-validating (SEVA) pneumatic actuator is a new generation of actuator which can not only give the corresponding output according to the input control variable but also give the accuracy of the control output and status of the actuator itself and other information. A dual processor system is implemented using C8051F060 and TMS320F28335 to acquire the signals and complete fault detection, dia...

TCERA (Tunable Compliance Energy Return Actuator) is a robotic actuator inspired by properties and behavior of the human knee joint, in that it utilizes antagonistic contraction to vary torsional stiffness and joint angle. The actuator is an electrically activated artificial muscle which uses two constant air-mass pneumatic springs configured antagonistically about the knee joint. The positions...

Introduction Here we present a pneumatic actuator design developed for human brain magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). The MRE is part of the MR examination protocol, which provides input data for a neurosurgical oncology rehearsal and training system. Authentic information on mechanical properties of healthy and tumor tissue makes realistic emulation of haptic perception in the neurosurgica...

• Novel functional design of a fully 3D printed soft pneumatic actuator. Sealed structure in one continuous process without support material. finite element model is able to predict the response designed actuators. Dynamic actuator was characterized under different conditions. Functional grips lift objects were manufactured and tested. Soft robotics have been investigated replace rigid systems ...

This paper reports on the design of a biorobotic actuator intended for use in a powered, below-knee prosthesis. Design requirements for the artificial muscle and tendon are based on the properties of the natural limb. As biological properties often exhibit significant variability, data from a variety of vertebrate species are extracted from published reports in the biological literature and use...