Study on control performance with consideration of articulated manipulators with pneumatic cylinders

We have developed new articulated manipulators with compact pneumatic cylinders and high levels of structural flexibility and safety by adopting new structures. When a pneumatic cylinder is used as an actuator, mechanical friction and dead time are the main problems manifesting in the pneumatic servo system. In this study, we first designed nominal models of articulated manipulators using experimental data on a closedloop system. Thereafter, we analyzed the kinematics of the manipulators and examined the method of generating the trajectory of a manipulator's fingertip. Finally, we conducted simulation and experiments on the articulated manipulators we developed to understand their positional controllability. Furthermore, we experimentally evaluated the pressure-sensitive sensor embedded in the fingertip, the results of which are also reported in this paper.