Hyperboloidal Pneumatic Artificial Muscle

Abstract

This paper proposes a hyperboloidal pneumatic artificial muscle. The actuator has a unique hourglass shape that has a potential to achieve low bending stiffness, high contraction force, and contraction ratio even if the actuator is short. Thus, it is suitable for soft articulated robots that require flexible short actuators. This paper presents characteristics of the focused actuator, fabrication methods, basic performance, and remaining technical problems.