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[Th024] Citation: Abstract
Biorobotic research seeks to develop new robotic technologies based on the
performance of human and animal neuromuscular systems. The development of one
component of a biorobotic system, an artificial muscle and tendon, is documented
here. The device is based on known static and dynamic properties of biological
muscle and tendon which were extracted from the literature and used to
mathematically describe the unique force, length, and velocity relationships. As
biological tissue exhibits wide variation in performance, ranges are identified
which encompass typical behavior for design purposes.
The McKibben pneumatic
actuator is proposed as the contractile element of the artificial muscle. A
model is presented that includes not only the geometric properties of the
actuator, but also the material properties of the actuator s inner bladder and
frictional effects. Experimental evidence is presented that validates the model
and shows the force-length properties to be muscle-like, while the
force-velocity properties are not. The addition of a hydraulic damper is
proposed to improve the actuator s velocity-dependent properties, complete with
computer simulations and experimental evidence validating the design process.
Furthermore, an artificial tendon is proposed to serve as connective tissue
between the artificial muscle and a skeleton. A series of experimental tests
verifies that the design provides suitable tendon-like performance.
A complete
model of the artificial musculo-tendon system is then presented which predicts
the expected force-length-velocity performance of the artificial system. Based
on the model predictions, an artificial muscle was assembled and subjected to
numerous performance tests. The results exhibited muscle-like performance in
general: higher activation pressures yielded higher output forces, faster
concentric contractions resulted in lower force outputs, faster eccentric
contractions produced higher force outputs, and output forces were higher at
longer muscle lengths than shorter lengths. Furthermore, work loop tests used to
experimentally measure the sustained work output during typical
stretch-shortening cycles indicate the capacity to perform work increases with
the magnitude of activation and is a function of both velocity and activation
timing.
["I would like a hard copy of this report"]
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Updated: Tue Jul 15 23:54:51 2008
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