Fatigue life and frequency response of braided pneumatic actuators

Abstract

Although braided pneumatic actuators are capable of producing remarkable forces compared to their weight, they have seen little mainstream use. One of the reasons is their relatively short fatigue lives at high pressure. By improving the manufacturing techniques, the actuator lifetime was extended by nearly an order of magnitude. Another concern is that their response times may be too long for the control of legged robots. However, the frequency response of these actuators was found to be similar to that of human muscle.