Development and Testing of an Omni-directional Soft Pneumatic Actuator for Endoscopy

Soft pneumatic actuators are appropriate for operation in unstructured environments because of their adaptability, cost-effectiveness, safety and ease of use. This paper presents the development and testing of an externally reinforced actuator with three independent chambers. Numerical simulations were used to design the actuator and to validate its workability for endoscopy. Finally, experimental tests on the prototype validated the numerical results and characterized the workspace of the actuator.