Development of Hybrid-type Multi-Port Servo Valve for Spherical Soft Actuator Using Three Extension type Flexible Pneumatic Actuators

Takumi KOBAYASHI, Tetsuya AKAGI, Shujiro DOHTA, Takashi SHINOHARA, Masashi YOKOTA

The 12th JFPS International Symposium on Fluid Power HIROSHIMA 2024

Japan Fluid Power System Society

HIROSHIMA

In a typical pneumatic system to drive soft actuators, a control valve is the most heavy and expensive device. Therefore, a compact and inexpensive control valve has been desired. To solve such a problem, not only improving the valve itself but also reducing the number of valves can be considered. In this study, to decrease the number of valves to drive a complex pneumatic actuator with many chambers, a slide-gate mechanism type multi-port servo valve that can switch multiple ports and adjust the flow rate of many actuators simultaneously was proposed and tested. The tested valve consists of a rotational cam, multi-port, two servo motors for switching and adjusting, and so on. In this paper, the construction and operating principle of the tested valve are described. Furthermore, the radial bending/extension type flexible robot arm driven by the tested valve is also reported.