Inspired by nature, soft-bodied pneumatic network actuators (PNAs) composed of compliant materials have been successfully applied in the fields of industry and daily life because of large-amplitude motion and long life span. However, compliant materials simultaneously limit the output force, challenge the dynamic modeling and impede corresponding control. In this paper, we investigate the design, modeling and control of an enhanced PNA. First, an enhanced structure is proposed to improve the output force of PNAs with features of simplification of fabrication, lightweight and compliant material retentivity. Second, a dynamic model of the enhanced PNA is constructed based on the Euler–Lagrange (EL) method. Finally, an adaptive robust controller is addressed for PNAs in presence of system uncertainties without knowledge of its bounds in prior. Experiment results show that the output force of the enhanced PNA is four times greater than the actuator without enhanced structures, which affords to theoretical estimation. Moreover, the proposed controller is utilized and compared with previous works in humanoid finger experiments to illustrate the effectiveness.

中文翻译：

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增强型软气动网络执行器的设计、建模和控制

受大自然启发，由柔顺材料组成的软体气动网络执行器（PNA）由于运动幅度大、寿命长等特点，已成功应用于工业和日常生活领域。然而，柔顺材料同时限制了输出力，挑战了动态建模并阻碍了相应的控制。在本文中，我们研究了增强型 PNA 的设计、建模和控制。首先，提出了一种增强结构来提高 PNA 的输出力，具有简化制造、轻质和柔顺材料保持性的特点。其次，基于欧拉-拉格朗日（EL）方法构建了增强型PNA的动态模型。最后，针对存在系统不确定性的 PNA 提出了一种自适应鲁棒控制器，而无需事先了解其边界。实验结果表明，增强型 PNA 的输出力是没有增强结构的执行器的 4 倍，这为理论估计提供了依据。此外，所提出的控制器被利用并与人形手指实验中的先前工作进行比较，以说明有效性。