Abstract
Pneumatic actuators have a low stiffness and low cost, which enables disposability of system components. They are highly useful for medical use in terms of infection prevention and easiness to compatible with biological systems. We designed a pneumatic soft actuator, called "fiber-reinforced cylindrical rubber actuator (henceforth FCRA)", and manufactured an extension type 3-degrees-of-freedom bending model by combining the three FCRAs. We derived the theoretical formula used to describe and evaluate static properties of our model, and then validated it through various actuation experiments for extension and bending movements. As a result, our theory has successfully explained all the experimental results. We are currently planning to apply the proposed model to the tip part of colonoscopes.
