Better Muscles, Better World

The development of actuators for the next generation of robots must not only address the engineering obstacles of power density and efficiency packaged into a lightweight form factor; they must surmount these obstacles using technology that is affordable for commercial users. To meet and exceed these challenges Vecna Robotics proposes the Bundle of McKibbens Actuators (BoMA), a novel approach that relies on groups of hydraulically-powered McKibbens bladder actuators to provide robots with continuous variable force output using highly power-dense and efficient robot muscles at the cost of only cents per actuator. For this Phase II project, Vecna will improve upon the Phase I static models for force-length relations to account for dynamic conditions and provide biomimetic, agonist/antagonist control for adjustable passive and active compliance using multiple actuators as a variable transmission; investigate new materials for each BoMA muscle fiber design to optimize performance and overall system robustness; evaluate valving approaches; and validate the models and their performance in real and simulated testbeds.