Optimization design and performance analysis of pneumatic grid flexible actuator

Abstract Flexible actuators are often used to grab fragile and vulnerable items in many fields. Compared with rigid actuators, they are safer to interact with humans and can better adapt to unstructured environments. Therefore, to address the poor adaptability of rigid actuators, an optimized pneumatic grid flexible actuator (PGFA) is proposed and analyzed. First, based on the bending principle of the PGFA’s chamber volume change, an improved bending mathematical model for PGFA was established that relates the input air pressure to the bending angle. Next, using this model, an improved Zebra optimization algorithm was proposed to optimize the PGFA structural parameters. Finally, the PGFA was fabricated using a mold-casting method based on 3D printing technology, through finite element simulation and physical testing, the impact of different structural parameter sizes on the bending performance was analyzed, and the bending angles and tip forces of PGFAs with different sizes were compared. The results demonstrate that compared with other pneumatic mesh flexible actuators, the optimized PGFA proposed in this paper significantly improves both the bending angle and tip force, under the same pressure of 40 kPa and 5 knuckles, the bending angle of PGFA optimized in this paper can reach 86.2°, and the tip force can reach 1.4 N. Besides, this study experimentally demonstrates that structural parameter optimization significantly enhances PGFA performance, offering a quantitative benchmark for flexible-actuator theory.