Development of Articulated Manipulators with Pneumatic Cylinders

We have developed new articulated manipulators with compact pneumatic cylinders and with the high levels of structural flexibilities and safety as a result of adoption of new ideas in the structure. In developing the new articulated manipulators, we have first defined the design concepts and then described the overview of the manipulators which we have actually designed and manufactured. We have carried out experiments with the manufactured articulated manipulators for their positional controllability and stiffness characteristics, the results of which are also reported in this paper. Furthermore, this paper refers to possible applications of the developed new articulated manipulators.