Dynamic Characteristics of the Antagonistic Pneumatic Muscle-Based Actuator for Biomechanical Applications

An actuator consisting of a pair of pneumatic artificial muscles in antagonistic connection belongs to the nonconventional actuators with some properties similar to biological muscles. Pneumatic muscle actuators are characterized by several appealing properties such as cleanness, structural simplicity and natural compliance. But there are also their deficiencies such as hysteresis, nonlinear character, as well as other issues associated with pneumatic system in general. In the paper there are described some of their dynamic characteristics important for biomechanical applications (pressure in the muscle, the muscle force, position of the actuator arm).