Open AccessDevelopment of a Spiral Shaped Soft Holding Actuator Using Extension Type Flexible Pneumatic Actuators
Author(s) -
So Shimooka,
Tetsuya Akagi,
Shujiro Dohta,
Takashi Shinohara,
Takumi Kobayashi
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of robotics and mechatronics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1883-8049
pISSN - 0915-3942
DOI - 10.20965/jrm.2022.p0373
Subject(s) - actuator , pneumatic actuator , spiral (railway) , rotary actuator , wearable computer , control theory (sociology) , mechanism (biology) , computer science , engineering , mechanical engineering , simulation , artificial intelligence , control (management) , physics , quantum mechanics , embedded system
Recently, several pneumatic soft actuators have been applied to wearable and welfare devices to provide nursing care and physical support for the elderly and disabled. In this study, as a wearable soft actuator for holding body, a spiral shaped soft holding actuator that can wrap a user according to their body shape was proposed and tested. The construction and operating principle of the tested soft actuator with circumferential restraint mechanism using three extension type flexible pneumatic actuators (EFPAs) has been discussed. As a result, it was found that the tested actuator could hold elbows and knees when the joint is in motion. An analytical model of the spiral actuator was also proposed to achieve an optimal design. It can be confirmed that the proposed analytical model can predict the shape of the actuator when various EFPAs are pressurized.