The purpose of this study is to develop a manipulator driven by a miniaturized artificial muscle in which a tiny compressor can be installed. Pneumatic actuators, such as pneumatic artificial rubber muscles (PARMs), have been widely used in many industrial and robotic research applications because they are compact and lightweight. However, the compressors driving such actuators are relatively large, and the peripheral devices such as filters and valves also tend to be large. To solve this size problem, the authors have been researching soft actuators driven by gas-liquid phase changes (GLPCs). In this research, a manipulator using an artificial rubber muscle driven by GLPCs was fabricated and a gripping experiment was conducted.
The goal of this study is to develop a miniaturized artificial muscle in which a tiny compressor can be installed. Pneumatic actuators, such as pneumatic artificial rubber muscles (PARMs), have been widely used in many industrial and robotic research applications because they are compact and lightweight. However, the compressors driving such actuators are relatively large. To solve this problem, the authors have been researching soft actuators driven by gas-liquid phase changes (GLPCs).
In this study, a fixed chamber containing a constantan heater and fluorocarbon was used to generate pressure instead of a compressor. The pressure generation caused by the GLPC was confirmed, and a PARM contraction experiment was then conducted. Additionally, a PI control system was built to test the step and frequency responses of the actuator. A frequency response of up to 4.0 Hz was determined, and the corner frequency was found to be approximately 1.5 Hz.
The size of the actuator was reduced by removing the chamber and installing the heater in the rubber muscle. A PARM driving experiment was conducted, and the performance of the PARM was evaluated. The miniaturized actuator consumes less power than the original actuator.
The ultimate goal of this research is to develop an artificial micro muscle in which a tiny compressor is installed.Pneumatic actuators, such as pneumatic artificial rubber muscle (PARM) or rubber bellows, have been widely used in many industrial and research fields, since they have merits such as being compact and lightweight. However, the size of the compressor driving the actuator is relatively large. In order to solve this problem, the authors have been researching soft actuators driven by the gas-liquid phase change (GLPC) of fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon (C 5 F 11 NO) is a substance that has a relatively low boiling point (50 [°C] ) and a low heat of evaporation (104.65 [kJ/kg] , whereas that of water is 2,260 [kJ/kg] ) . In this research, PARM driving experiments utilizing the GLPC were conducted, and a PI control system was built to test step response and frequency response of actuator. The frequency response up to 4.0 [Hz] was clarified and the corner frequency of approximately 1.5 [Hz] was confirmed.
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