2A1-E08 Development of a Flexible Pneumatic Linear Actuator with Unlimited Stroke Length and High Speed Motion(Mechanism and Control for Actuator(1))

We propose a novel pneumatic actuator for applying to inspection robots in narrow spaces. This actuator is 25 mm in maximum diameter and has unlimited stroke length and high speed motion by converting expansive power of pressurized tube to rolling motion. The maximum generating force of it is more than 20 N at 500 kPa pressure and the maximum linear motion velocity is more than 9 m/s. In this paper, we established a dynamic model of this actuator and simulated the generating force to applied pressure. Furthermore, we carried out the measurement experiment of the generating force in order to verify the validity of the dynamic model and optimize the actuator.