A direct-drive pneumatic stepping motor for robots: designs for pipe-inspection microrobots and for human-care robots

A direct-drive stepping motor based on a new principle is reported. The features of the motor include: 1) high torque (4-20 times higher than that of the same-sized conventional electric motors); 2) high stepping resolution; 3) light weight; and 4) simple structure. The motors are suitable for robots in new applications such as microrobots and human-care robots. The mechanism and theoretical analysis for the motor are presented. Two models, which are designed for pipe-inspection microrobots and for human-care robots are shown respectively.