Designing systems of fiber reinforced pneumatic actuators using a pseudo-rigid body model

Modeling the Bending Behavior of Fiber-Reinforced Pneumatic Actuators Using a Pseudo-Rigid-Body Model

“…A similar model was presented in Ref. [21] with differences primarily in the placement of the linear and torsional springs. We believe that this model will be more accurate in capturing the curvilinear deformation profiles of the FREE.…”

“…To fit this PRB model for the FREE, we need to understand its axial and transverse bending behaviors. These can be obtained either experimentally [21] or using finite element analysis (FEA) [12]. While obtaining experimental data for different FREE sizes and shapes is tedious, we rely on fitting the PRB model on the FEA data.…”

“…It is important to note the significance of using a four-spring PRB model here. While the three-spring PRB model proposed by the authors [21] was able to approximate the behavior of FREE deformation well, it was unable to capture variations in the location of torsional springs effectively. The locations of the torsional springs became largely dependent on the design variable γ, while the other design variables (K th and Kex) appeared to have little impact.…”

“…The PRB model is deemed to be useful in the design and analysis of mechanisms that comprise a combination or a network of FREEs. A simple combination of two FREEs arranged in a dyadic configuration was presented and analyzed in our earlier work [21]. In this section, we summarize the salient features of this simple system and present two other examples: a compliant gripper and a rotor.…”

“…Hence, there is a reduction in the order of complexity as compared to models derived using continuum mechanics. In this regard, the authors recently adapted a threespring PRB model [21] for FREEs based on an existing model for soft elastomeric joints [22,23]. Two torsional springs at either end models the bending stiffness, while a central linear spring models the axial stiffness.…”