インダクタンス変化型変位センサを一体化したスマート人工筋の磁性流体による駆動

抄録

A McKibben artificial muscle is a fluidic soft actuator. It has a structure in which a silicone inner tube is covered with a sleeve configured with fibers. Therefore, the artificial muscle has high safety due to flexibility. In this research, we have developed a smart McKibben artificial muscle that has an inductance displacement sensor. The inductance displacement sensor is a coil that is formed on the surface of the artificial muscle using an enameled wire as a sleeve fiber. The feature of the smart artificial muscle is that the sleeve fiber works as both a sensor and structure of the actuator; in addition, it can be fabricated automatically by a braider machine. The displacement of the artificial muscle is estimated from the change in inductance due to the change in coil shape accompanying driving of the artificial muscle. In this report, for increasing the sensor output, we use magnetic fluid as working fluid. The sensor output can be approximately 3 times higher than the case of pneumatic drive.