Analysis on the musculoskeletal leg mechanism driven by PAMs

It is necessary to take inspiration from natural creatures for developing bionic robots. As the Pneumatic Artificial Muscle (PAM) has properties similar to biological muscle, which is widely used in robotics as one kind of actuators. A kind of musculoskeletal leg mechanism driven by PAMs was presented. The experiment was conducted to analyze the hysteresis characteristic of the PAM from Festo company, and the relationship between PAM length, load mass and gas pressure was obtained. The knee joint experiment was conducted to analyze its extension and flexion characteristic. The experimental results show that the rotate range of the knee joint can reach 80 , which is big enough for motion.