Origami Pump Based on Planetary Gear System for Pneumatic Pressure

In this article, an origami pump system based on a planetary gear for operating a soft actuator is introduced. The proposed system consists of three main parts: planetary gear system, origami pump, and soft pneumatic chamber. A planetary gear system operated by dc motors supplies torque to an origami pump. The origami pump with the Kresling pattern can be contracted and expanded only by rotation from the torque. As the pump contracts, pressure is transmitted to the soft chamber, causing it to bend in a particular direction. The performance of the proposed system is analyzed in terms of two aspects: pump displacement and internal pressure. The change in performance according to input frequency and rotation angle is theoretically modeled and compared with the experimental results.