Dynamics of pneumatic muscle actuator: Measurement and modeling

Due to strongly non-linear characteristics of the pneumatic muscle actuator it is necessary to have suitable dynamic model of this actuator for use in advanced control algorithms. Based on analysis of the actuator principal function and description of its main components the simulation model of the antagonistic actuator with pneumatic artificial muscles using different muscle models was designed and simulated in Matlab / Simulink environment. In the paper there are compared the actuator dynamic characteristics obtained by simulation with the real measured data on the experimental actuator.