Design and Analysis of Electrohydraulic Systems for Underwater Systems Utilizing Fluidic Artificial Muscle Actuators

Abstract

This chapter explores the coupling between fluidic artificial muscles (FAMs) and the electrohydraulic systems that provide their motive power. FAMs are simple yet high force-density soft robotic actuators capable of operating in both atmospheric and underwater conditions. To explore the application of FAMs in underwater robotics, this paper considers the case study of a single degree of freedom robotic arm actuated by a single FAM actuator. It presents a fully coupled dynamic model of the constituent subsystems and uses these subsystem models to investigate the effectiveness of using FAMs as actuators for such robotic appendages. In exploring the case study of a robot arm actuated by FAMs, we illustrate how the system operating envelope can be defined based on the selection and design parameters of the motor and pump, FAM actuator, and expected loading conditions. This case study can be generalized to various electrohydraulic subsystems in order to consider multiple system design configurations prior to construction.