Design and Control of Multi–jointed Robot Finger based on Artificial Muscle Actuator.*

A new biomimetic actuation system by artificial muscle actuator based on dielectric elastomer is presented in this paper. A novel linear actuator called “multi-stacked actuator” is introduced, which can be embedded in the phalanges of the finger and ensures a compact design of the overall system. The performance of the proposed actuation system is demonstrated using two degree–of–freedom robot finger. A pulse-width-modulation proportional-integral-derivative (PWM-PID) feedback controller based on the discharging circuit is implemented and tested. The proposed system can be extended to the multi–fingered robot hand easily, and applied even for articulated mechanisms such as legged robots etc.