Inflatable arm with rigidity for safe robots — 1st report: Proposal of joint structure

The purpose of this study is to develop the soft robotic arms for human life assistant robots by using a pneumatic system. To activate the arm, we consider the joint to be the active part. Therefore, in this paper, the structure of the joint is the focus. This joint has a helical structure outside to higher rigidity, and two pairs of air tubes inside. By controlling the air pressure in the tubes, the joint has the ability to bend and stretch.

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