Flexible Pneumatic Cylinders Research Articles

Design And Development of Pneumatic Actuated Robotic Arm with Multipurpose Gripper

Grippers are attached at the end of an industrial arm robot for material handling purpose. Grippers plays a major role in all pick and place application industries. Those are connected as end effectors to realize and develop a task in an industrial work floor. Pneumatic gripper works with the principle of compressed air. The gripper is connected to a compressed air supply. When air pressure is applied on the piston, the gripper gets opened while the air gets exist from the piston it gets closed. It is possible to control the force acting on the gripper by controlling the air pressure with the help of the valve. The results from these experiments demonstrate that the master-slave attitude control can be realized by using an accelerometer and a simple analytical model of the robot arm. The trajectory control also was realized for a square trajectory by using an analytical model and a compact control system. C measured one is relatively large compared with typical robot arm. This is because by a friction that is existing in a rod-less type flexible pneumatic cylinder. The control performance can be improved by reducing the friction or by improving the control scheme. Pneumatic actuators have a number of advantages over electric motors, including strength-to-weight ratio, tunable compliance at the mechanism level, robustness, as well as price. The handling of materials and mechanisms to place of objects from lower plane to higher plane and are widely found in factories and industrial manufacturing. Pneumatic actuators have a number of advantages over electric motors, including strength-to-weight ratio, tunable compliance at the mechanism level, robustness, as well as price. The handling of materials and mechanisms to place of objects from lower plane to higher plane and are widely found in factories and industrial manufacturing.

Control and analysis of simple-structured robot arm using flexible pneumatic cylinders

Control and analysis of simple-structured robot arm using flexible pneumatic cylinders

Development of Simplified Wearable Wrist Rehabilitation Device Using Low-Friction Type Flexible Pneumatic Cylinders

Development of Simplified Wearable Wrist Rehabilitation Device Using Low-Friction Type Flexible Pneumatic Cylinders

Development of Pipe Holding Mechanism for Pipe Inspection Robot Using Flexible Pneumatic Cylinder

A pipe inspection robot is useful to reduce the inspection cost. In the previous study, a novel pipe inspection robot using a flexible pneumatic cylinder that can move forward along to the pipe by changing the robot’s body naturally was proposed and tested. In this paper, to improve its mobility for a corner of a pipe, the thin pipe holding mechanism using pneumatic bellows was proposed and tested. As a result of its driving test, the holding performance of the mechanism was confirmed.

Improvement of Wearable Wrist Rehabilitation Device Using Flexible Pneumatic Cylinders

In the condition of the insufficient number of PT, the novel wearable rehabilitation devices using a soft pneumatic actuator for the elderly are actively proposed and developed. In the previous study, a wearable wrist rehabilitation device based on a flexible robot arm using three flexible pneumatic cylinders was proposed and tested. In this study, the improvement of the device is carried out so as to use it without limitation of attitude of patient’s arm. The attitude control of the improved device based on the analytical model is also carried out. As a result, it is confirmed that the device can give the motion to patients with any attitude of their arm according to the desired position.

Development of Wearable Wrist Rehabilitation Device Using Flexible Pneumatic Cylinders

In the condition of the insufficient number of PT, the novel wearable rehabilitation devices using a soft pneumatic actuator for the elderly are actively proposed and developed. In the previous study, a wearable wrist rehabilitation device based on a flexible robot arm using three flexible pneumatic cylinders was proposed and tested. In this study, the improvement of the device is carried out so as to use it without limitation of attitude of patient’s arm. The attitude control of the improved device based on the analytical model is also carried out. As a result, it is confirmed that the device can give the motion to patients with any attitude of their arm according to the desired position.

Development of Hybrid Type Flexible Pneumatic Cylinder for Considering Less Air Consumption

Inexpensive rehabilitation devices that can be used at home are required because of a lack of PT and welfare workers. In the previous study, the low-cost portable rehabilitation device using a flexible spherical actuator that consists of flexible pneumatic cylinder was proposed and tested. However, a compact and high power compressor that supplies air pressure to pneumatic actuator has not been developed yet. In particular, the heat generated by compressing air prevents to miniaturize it. To realize a home rehabilitation, the small-sized compressors or less air consuming flexible actuators are required. In this study, a hybrid type flexible pneumatic cylinder driven by electric motors and air pressure is proposed and tested. The concept, the construction and the operating principle of the proposed actuator were described. The position control using the tested actuator is also carried out.

ワイヤ式リニアポテンショメータ内蔵型柔軟空気圧シリンダの試作

ワイヤ式リニアポテンショメータ内蔵型柔軟空気圧シリンダの試作

Simple Trajectory Control Method of Robot Arm Using Flexible Pneumatic Cylinders

<div class=""abs_img""><img src=""[disp_template_path]/JRM/abst-image/00270006/12.jpg"" width=""300"" /> Flexible robot arm</div>Robots, due to their excellent speed, accuracy and cost-effectiveness in repetitive tasks, now have a tendency to be used in rehabilitation field. A simple trajectory control of robot arm using flexible pneumatic cylinders and embedded controller which can be used as rehabilitation for human wrist is described. The system consists of the flexible robot arm, an accelerometer, an embedded microcomputer, a potentiometer and compact quasi-servo valves. The analytical model for trajectory control is proposed and applied on the flexible pneumatic robot arm. The proposed trajectory control method does not need a linearized model which is commonly used in a robot arm. The flexible structure has the characteristics of high safety such as not to cause harm to user and is suitable for use in therapeutic devices. The trajectory control can help patients recover more quickly by repeating the movements based on the patient's individual condition. Both experiment and simulation show that the trajectory control of robot arm can be realized for several kinds of trajectory by using the proposed control method and the tested robot arm.

Development of Flexible Pneumatic Cylinder with Backdrivability and Its Application

In the remote controlled rehabilitation device, physical therapists must recognize the situation of the patient. The actuator in the device is also required to be flexible so as not to injure the body. In our previous study, the flexible pneumatic cylinder was proposed and tested. The flexible robot arm using the cylinders for human wrist rehabilitation was also developed. In the next step, it is necessary to develop the master device for bilateral master- slave control. In this paper, the flexible pneumatic cylinder with backdrivability for bilateral control is proposed and tested.  The performance of the tested cylinder is also

Development of Flexible Displacement Measuring System Using Wire-type Linear Encoder for Flexible Spherical Actuator

This study aims at developing a potable rehabilitation device which can be safe to use while holding it with human hands. In the previous study, the novel flexible pneumatic cylinder that can be used even if it is deformed has been developed. The flexible spherical actuator using two ring-shaped flexible pneumatic cylinders was proposed and tested as a portable rehabilitation device. The attitude control system using a tiny embedded controller, four small-sized quasi-servo valves and two accelerometers was also proposed and constructed. In the next step, it is necessary to recognize the relative position between both stages to prevent both hands to contact each other. In this paper, a flexible pneumatic cylinder with wire-type linear encoder is proposed and tested. The compact sealing mechanism in the cylinder is also proposed. In addition, the measuring system using embedded controller is proposed and tested. As a result, it is confirmed that the tested sensor can measure the displacement of the cylinder.

Development and Control of Flexible Spherical Actuator for Portable Rehabilitation Device

This study aims at developing a potable rehabilitation device which can be safe to use during holding it. In our previous study, a novel flexible pneumatic cylinder that can be used even if it is deformed by external force has been developed. In this paper, a portable rehabilitation device using the flexible spherical actuator that consists of two ring-shaped flexible pneumatic cylinders is proposed and tested. The low-cost control system using four small- sized quasi-servo valves and an embedded controller is also developed. The spherical actuator is also improved so as to apply to the portable rehabilitation device. In addition, the attitude measuring system for attitude control of the device using a tiny embedded controller and two accelerometers is constructed and tested. The attitude control of the device using the measuring system is executed. As a result, the portable rehabilitation device that it is possible to give the rehabilitation motions to patients with attitude control can be realized. 

Development of Flexible Displacement Sensor Using Ultrasonic Sensor for Flexible Pneumatic Robot Arm

In our previous study, the flexible robot arm using the flexible pneumatic cylinders for human wrist rehabilitation was proposed and tested. The low-cost bilateral control system using two embedded controller and tested robot arm was also proposed and tested. In this paper, to miniaturize the displacement measuring system and reduce its cost, the flexible and compact displacement sensor using the ultrasonic sensor is proposed. The measuring characteristics of the tested sensor are investigated. As a result, the flexible displacement sensor with the resolution of about 0.1mm and the measuring sampling period of about 4ms could be realized.

Control and analysis of robot arm using flexible pneumatic cylinder

Control and analysis of robot arm using flexible pneumatic cylinder

Development and control of flexible spherical actuator using flexible pneumatic cylinders

The purpose of our study is to develop a flexible and lightweight actuator which can be safe enough to be attached to the human body, and to apply it to a flexible mechanism and rehabilitation device. New types of flexible pneumatic actuator that can be used even if the actuator is deformed by external force have been developed in our previous studies. In this paper, a flexible spherical actuator using the novel flexible pneumatic cylinders is proposed and tested. The simple-structured spherical actuator consists of two ring-shaped flexible pneumatic cylinders. They are intersected at right angle and are fixed on the base. The control system using the quasi-servo valves developed in our previous study and a micro-computer is also developed. In addition, the spherical actuator is improved so as to suppress the vibration in control and to increase the stiffness of the actuator by changing the structure of the actuator. As a result, a large working area of the actuator could be obtained using the tested simple-structured spherical actuator. The control performance could be improved using the improved actuator and the improved control method.

Development of sliding type inspection robot using flexible pneumatic cylinder

A pipe inspection robot is required to decrease the inspection cost. In this paper, a sliding type flexible mobile mechanism for the inspection robot was proposed and tested. The mechanisms consist of the open/close claw units and novel flexible pneumatic cylinders that can be driven even if the cylinder bends. The improvement of the sliding mechanism so that it can travel into a narrower pipe was also described. The flexible bending mechanism for changing the direction of the robot was also proposed and tested. As a result, the tested robot can travel in the narrow pipe with inner diameter of 50 mm smoothly by using the open/close unit and the sliding mechanism as an inchworm. The robot can also easily turn in both elbow and pipe tee by changing the body of the robot naturally according to the pipe based on its flexibility.

柔軟空気圧シリンダを用いた伸縮・湾曲機構の試作と組込みコントローラによる姿勢制御

柔軟空気圧シリンダを用いた伸縮・湾曲機構の試作と組込みコントローラによる姿勢制御

Development of Flexible Spherical Actuator Controlled by Low-Cost Servo Valve and Embedded Controller

A wearable actuator needs to be flexible so as not to injure the human body. The purpose of our study is to develop a flexible and lightweight actuator which can be safe enough to be attached to the human body, and to apply it to a flexible mechanism and rehabilitation device. New types of flexible pneumatic actuator that can be used even if the actuator is deformed by external force have been developed in our previous studies. In this paper, we propose and test a flexible spherical actuator using the novel flexible pneumatic cylinders. The simple spherical actuator consists of two ring-shaped flexible pneumatic cylinders. They are intersected at right angle and are fixed on the base. The low-cost control system using the tested quasi-servo valves and an embedded controller (micro-computer) was also developed. The spherical actuator was also improved so as to suppress the vibration in control and to increase the stiffness of the actuator by changing the structure of the actuator. In addition, by using the quasi-servo valve controlled by the superior embedded controller, the flow rate of supply and exhaust could be controlled independently. As a result, the control performance could be improved using the improved spherical actuator and the quasi-servo valves controlled by the embedded controller with compensational method for exhaust.

Development of Flexible Pneumatic Cylinder with Built-in Flexible Linear Encoder and Flexible Bending Sensor

Development of Flexible Pneumatic Cylinder with Built-in Flexible Linear Encoder and Flexible Bending Sensor

Development of a Simple-structured Pneumatic Robot Arm and its Control Using Low-cost Embedded Controller

The purpose of our study is to develop the flexible and lightweight actuator and apply it into a flexible robot arm. In this paper, the master-slave attitude control and the trajectory control of the flexible robot arm are proposed. This robot arm has three degree-of-freedom that is bending, expanding and contracting and will be applied into a rehabilitation device for human wrist. The master-slave control system which is proposed in this paper is necessary when a physical therapist wants to give a rehabilitation motion to a patient. While the trajectory control system is necessary when a sequential rehabilitation motion is applied to a patient. In this paper, an analytical model of a flexible robot arm is proposed for master-slave attitude control and trajectory control. Then, a compact and inexpensive control system is developed and tested. The system consists of a flexible robot arm, a low-cost embedded controller, accelerometers and small-sized quasi-servo valves which are developed by using the on/off control valve in our laboratory. The results from these experiments demonstrate that the master-slave attitude control can be realized by using an accelerometer and a simple analytical model of the robot arm. The trajectory control also was realized for a square trajectory by using an analytical model and a compact control system. The error between the desired trajectory and measured one is relatively large compared with typical robot arm. This is because by a friction that is existing in a rod-less type flexible pneumatic cylinder. The control performance can be improved by reducing the friction or by improving the control scheme.