Miniaturization of Artificial Rubber Muscle Actuator Driven by Gas-Liquid Phase Change

Abstract

The goal of this study is to develop an artificial micro muscle in which a tiny compressor can be installed. Pneumatic actuators, such as pneumatic artificial rubber muscles (PARMs), have been widely used in many industrial and research applications because they are compact and lightweight. However, the compressors driving such actuators are relatively large. To solve this problem, the authors have been researching soft actuators driven by the gas-liquid phase change (GLPC) of fluorocarbon. In this research, PARM driving experiments utilizing the GLPC were conducted, and a PI control system was built to test step response of the actuators. The experimental results show that a time constant of 0.26 s was achieved when the pressure was increasing from 0.3 to 0.35 MPa.