Concept Verification of Antagonistic Pneumatic Driven and Inflatable Arm Joint

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to develop the soft robotic arm by using a pneumatic system. To activate the arm, the joint is the key component. Therefore, this paper focuses on the structure of the joint and angle control. This joint has a helical tube outside to change the stiffness, and two pairs of air bags made of polyethylene inside for configuration antagonistic driven system. The features of the proposed joint are that: totally made with soft material, inflatable structure and can be change the stiffness of the joint by controlling the pressure in the helical tube. By controlling the air pressures in the air bags, the joint angle can be controlled. By the experimental result, it was confirmed that the driving concept of the joint was well functioned, and the joint angle control was also fairlv realized by open loop control.