Development of measurement and control technologies for an actuator unit with multiple McKibben pneumatic artificial muscles

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25709014
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Dynamics/Control
• Research Institution: The University of Electro-Communications
• Principal Investigator: Kogiso Kiminao 電気通信大学, 情報理工学(系)研究科, 准教授 (30379549)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: McKibben空気圧ゴム人工筋肉 / モデル化 / 切替えシステム / カルマンフィルタ / モデル予測制御

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project was aimed at developing fundamental measurement and control technologies for a pneumatic actuator unit with multiple McKibben pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs). Acquiring a precise mathematical model of the PAM that enables to simulate dynamic behaviors of the PAM well, the model-based measurement and control methods have been developed. In contraction and expansion processes of the PAM its behaviors are nonlinear due to friction of a tube and fluid dynamics of compressed air. This project has obtained precise and stable switched systems in the state-space form. A model validation using measured data from a practical PAM system confirms that the outputs of the model are very close to the real outputs. Moreover, the obtained model enabled to develop an estimator of the contraction ratio, such as an unscented Kalman filter and an extended Kalman filter, and to consider a model predictive control and its implementation to the practical system.

Free Research Field

制御工学