Title: Design and modelling of multiple-air-chamber pneumatic soft bending actuators

Authors: Xin Liu; Jinhui Zhang; Zheng Li; Shaomeng Gu; Ling Zhao; Bo Liu

Addresses: School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China ' School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China ' School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China ' School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China ' State Key Laboratory of Precision Measuring Technology and Instruments, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China; State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China ' Department of Electrical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: In this paper, we design a multiple-air-chamber pneumatic soft bending actuator made of two-component silicone rubber that can achieve angle bending at any direction in space. Both the design philosophy and the working principle of the multiple-air-chamber pneumatic soft bending actuator are described in detail. Additionally, the dynamic model of the multiple-air-chamber pneumatic soft bending actuator is established by dividing the bending angle into n segments and using the Euler-Lagrange method. By simulating the dynamic model, we can find the optimal number of segments n that achieve desired angle bending control performance. Finally, experimental results of angle bending control for step signal and sinusoidal signal verify that the dynamic model is effective and applicative to obtain desired angle bending control performance.

Keywords: pneumatic soft bending actuator; dynamic model; angle bending.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHM.2025.144940

International Journal of Hydromechatronics, 2025 Vol.8 No.1, pp.29 - 50

Received: 09 Aug 2023
Accepted: 02 Nov 2023
Published online: 13 Mar 2025 *

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