Abstract This paper introduces the third generation of Pleated Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (PPAM), which has been developed to simplify the production over the first and second prototype. This type of artificial muscle was developed to overcome dry friction and material deformation, which is present in the widely used McKibben muscle. The essence of the PPAM is its pleated membrane structure which enables the muscle to work at low pressures and at large contractions. In order to validate the new PPAM generation, it has been compared with the mathematical model and the previous generation. The new production process and the use of new materials introduce improvements such as 55% reduction in the actuator’s weight, a higher reliability, a 75% reduction in the production time and PPAMs can now be produced in all sizes from 4 to 50 cm. This opens the possibility to commercialize this type of muscles so others can implement it. Furthermore, a comparison with experiments between PPAM and Festo McKibben muscles...
['Daniel Villegas', 'Michaël Van Damme', 'Bram Vanderborght', 'P. Beyl', 'Dirk Lefeber']
Third–Generation Pleated Pneumatic Artificial Muscles for Robotic Applications: Development and Comparison with McKibben Muscle