Design and Experiments of an Origami-Inspired Pneumatic Flexible Manipulator

Unlike traditional manipulators with high rigidity and limited degrees of freedom, pneumatic manipulators have significant superiorities such as flexibility, lightweight and cleanliness, and therefore, have been one of the most popular research directions in robotics. However, most existing pneumatic manipulators have disadvantages such as low rigidity and simple functionality. In order to make up for the shortcomings of existing pneumatic manipulators, this paper proposes a new pneumatic flexible manipulator inspired by the concept of origami, which realizes the combination and balance of flexibility and rigidity. Finite element analysis is conducted to study influences of the number of airbags, the angle of main beam, and the width of main beam on the performance of the flexible manipulator. The simulation results are utilized to optimize the structure of the flexible manipulator. A pneumatic control system is designed to realize the automatic control of the pneumatic flexible manipulator. At the same time, a prototype is 3D printed, the experimental platform for pneumatic deformation is built, and the verification experiments of the single-jaw manipulator and the three-jaw manipulator are completed.