A novel inflatable robot with constant and continuous volume

Inflatable structures are already used in robotics to build stiff and light inflatable links. Moreover, those links are compliant and they can be safely used in robots interacting with critical installations. Nevertheless, until now, linkages with an inflatable structure have always been composed of independent inflatable links separated by joints. But the joints are heavier, less stiff, or less safe than the inflatable links. So in this paper, we present a new design of inflatable robots with joints having similar mechanical characteristics as the links. A first prototype, a model of the joints and some experimental validation will also be presented.