Development of pneumatic cellular robots forming a mechanical structure

Abstract

This study deals with group robots forming a mechanical structure. In this paper, we address the concrete motion mechanisms of the robots. Each robot has a cubic shape with pneumatic actuators. It rotates with a corner of the robot as an axis. To realize the movement, we propose two kinds of mechanical devices. One is a stabilization mechanism that the pneumatic actuator stably forms an arched shape. The other one is a rotary selective valve for minimizing pneumatic elements. This paper also reports a demonstration of the pneumatic robots in hardware.