Measurement Experiments and Analysis for Modeling of McKibben Pneumatic Actuator

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the dynamic relationship between tension, contraction velocity, and length of the McKibben pneumatic actuators (MPAs) via experiments. Although MPAs are widely used in biomimetic robots or rehabilitation machinery, it has not been verified why they can exhibit stable motion from their simple structure. We analyze the relation of output tension, contraction velocity, and length. From the results of experiments, we conclude that the tension is related to both the velocity and the length of the actuator and the general form of this relation can be approximated as a plane. Moreover, we confirm that the parameters of the plane depend on the MPA pressure and valve condition.