Untethered three-arm pneumatic robot using hose-free pneumatic actuator

Compressors and air hoses limit the mobility of mobile robots and the use of pneumatic actuators such that small pneumatic actuators, which can be driven without compressors, are strongly desired. We have been developing a new hose-free pneumatic actuator based on reversible gas/liquid chemical reactions. This novel pneumatic actuator neither requires compressors nor air hoses for its source of power because its pressure source is in the actuator itself. In this paper, we present a way to estimate gas generation speed from both theoretical and experimental aspects. We also present a new untethered soft robot, which has this actuator located internally. This robot has three hands and can move them up in 16 s and down in 35 s.