Design and Experimental Evaluation of a Dual-Mode Soft Pneumatic Actuator

Pneumatic soft actuators are pivotal in improving the safety of human-robot interactions. However, the portability of current pneumatic actuators is often hindered by their suppliers’ large size and mass. Although some portable gas suppliers demonstrate their portability superiority, they usually lack the necessary explosive output capability due to slow gas generation rates, thus limiting their utility in high-performance mobile robots. To address this issue, this article proposes a compact dual-modal soft pneumatic actuator (DSPA) with explosive driving capability. The DSPA utilizes the reaction of Calcium Carbide and Sodium Peroxide with water to generate Acetylene and Oxygen to drive mechanical loads. Furthermore, these gases can be ignited to rapidly produce high-pressure output for explosive driving. The experimental prototype of DSPA weighs approximately 97.4 g. When fueled with 30 ms of fuel, the DSPA can exert a force capable of moving loads greater than 500% of its weight by approximately 20 mm. The calculated driving power of the pneumatic actuator exceeds 9.62 W, making it suitable for high-performance pneumatic robotic applications.