Proposal of air cylinder type artificial muscle and measurement of its output characteristics

Abstract

This paper presents air cylinder type artificial muscle and measurement of its output characteristics. First, the characteristics of conventional air cylinders are listed and some issues are discussed. To solve these problems, we propose a small diameter flexible air cylinder that can be placed and operated in a bent position. However, a small diameter flexible air cylinder is difficult to control because of its small output and large variation in output. The output characteristics of a small diameter flexible air cylinder and an artificial muscle made of a bundle of small diameter flexible air cylinders are measured. The results are compared with those of conventional air cylinders and discussed.