Control of pneumatic muscle actuators

Author

Caldwell, Darwin G. ; Medrano-Cerda, Gustavo A. ; Goodwin, Mike

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Eng., Salford Univ., UK

Volume

15

Issue

1

fYear

1995

fDate

2/1/1995 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

40

Lastpage

48

Abstract

Problems with the control and compliance of pneumatic systems have prevented their widespread use in advanced robotics. However, their compactness, power/weight ratio, and simplicity are factors that could potentially be exploited in sophisticated dextrous manipulator designs. This paper considers the development of a new high power/weight and power/volume braided pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA) having considerable power output potential, combined with controllable motion and inherent compliance to prevent damage to handled objects. Control of these muscles is explored via adaptive pole-placement controllers. Experimental results indicate that accurate position control of 1° is feasible, with power/weight outputs in excess of 1kW/kg at 200kPa

Keywords

actuators; manipulators; pneumatic control equipment; accurate position control; adaptive pole-placement controllers; advanced robotics; compactness; controllable motion; inherent compliance; pneumatic muscle actuators; pneumatic systems; power/weight ratio; sophisticated dextrous manipulator designs; Adaptive control; Control systems; Manipulators; Motion control; Muscles; Pneumatic actuators; Pneumatic systems; Position control; Programmable control; Robots;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Control Systems, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1066-033X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/37.341863

Filename

341863