A pneumatic actuator using welded metal bellows is designed. Since this actuator has no sliding parts, there is no influence of friction forces. The actuator is expected to have good performance in positioning control and generating exact desired forces. In order to use the bellows actuator as a force sensor (bellows sensor), the static and dynamic characteristics of the bellows actuator are investigated. From these experimental results, the capability of the bellow sensor becomes clear. The bellows actuator is used as a sensing actuator and a pneumatic gripper. The effectiveness of the actuator is demonstrated through experiments. The efficiency of the developed gripper is indicated by means of insertion experiments.
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