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A Survey on applications of Pneumatic Artificial

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19th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation

Aquis Corfu Holiday Palace, Corfu, Greece
June 20-23, 2011

ThCT3.6

A Survey on Applications of Pneumatic Artificial Muscles

Georgios Andrikopoulos, Georgios Nikolakopoulos and Stamatis Manesis

AbstractThe aim of this article is to present a survey on

applications of Pneumatic Artificial Muscles (PAMs). PAMs are
highly nonlinear pneumatic actuators where their elongation is
proportional to the interval pressure. During the last decade,
there has been a significant increase in the industrial and
scientific utilization of PAMs due to their advantages such as
high strength and small weight, while various types of PAMs
with different technical characteristics have been appeared in
the relative scientific literature. This article will summarize the
key enabling applications in PAMs that are focusing in the
following areas: a) Biorobotic, b) Medical, c) Industrial, and d)
Aerospace applications.

I. INTRODUCTION

neumatic Muscle Actuator [1], also known as the

McKibben Pneumatic Artificial Muscle (PAM) [2], [3],
[4], [5], Fluidic Muscle [6] or the Biomimetic Actuator [7],
is a tubelike actuator that is characterized by a decrease in
the actuating length when pressurized [8], [9], [10], [11],
[12]. Best known member of this family is the McKibben
Muscle, which was invented in 1950s by the physician,
Joseph L. McKibben and was used as an orthotic appliance
for polio patients [2], while the first commercialization of
PAMs has been done by the Bridgestone Rubber Company
of Japan in the 1980s. PAMs are significantly light actuators
that are characterized by smooth, accurate and fast response
and also are able to produce a significant force when fully
stretched.
Typical manufacturing of a PAM can be found as a long
synthetic or natural rubber tube, wrapped inside manmade
netting, such as Kevlar, at predetermined angle. Protective
rubber coating surrounds the fibber wrapping and
appropriate metal fittings are attached at each end. The PAM
converts pneumatic power to pulling force and has many
advantages over conventional pneumatic cylinders such as
high force to weight ratio, variable installation possibilities,
no mechanical parts, lower compressedair consumption and
low cost [13]. When compressed air is applied to the interior
of the rubber tube, it contracts in length and expands
radially. As the air exits the tube, the inner netting acts as a
spring that restores the tube in its original form. This
Manuscript received February 10, 2011.
G. Andrikopoulos is with the Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department, University of Patras, Rio, Achaia CO 26500 GREECE (email: andrikopg@ece.upatras.gr).
G. Nikolakopoulos is with the Control Engineering Group, Lule
University of Technology, SE-97187 Lule, Sweden (e-mail:
nikolakopoulos.george@gmail.com).
S. Manesis is with the Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department, University of Patras, Rio, Achaia CO 26500 GREECE (email: stam.manesis@ece.upatras.gr).
978-1-4577-0123-8/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

actuation reminds the operation of a single acting pneumatic

cylinder with a spring return, while this reversible physical
deformation during the contraction and expansion of the
muscle results in linear motion.
It should be noted that the most significant advantage of
utilizing PAM in control applications, is that for their
position control, as only one analog variable needs to be
controlled, while for the same operation with a pneumatic
cylinder, two analog variables need to be controlled (one for
each chamber). As a result in the case of a pneumatic
cylinder, it is more difficult to find an equilibrium between
the two gauge pressures in the chambers, that it is for the
case of PAMs. Typical types of PAMs and the corresponding
naming, are depicted in Figure 1.

Fig. 1. Various types of PAMs: (a) McKibben Muscle/Braided

Muscle, (b) Pleated Muscle, (c) Yarlott Netted Muscle, (d) ROMAC
Muscle and (e) Paynter Hyperboloid Muscle.

The aim of this article is to provide a detailed survey on

the applications of the PAMs that could be utilized as a basic
reference design. The applications will highlight the most
successful utilization of the PAMs in the fields of: a)
Biorobotics, b) Medical, c) Industrial, and d) Aerospace
applications. Due to the limited application of this most
promising technology, such a survey will push all the future
developments in this area and will provide references in the
most important publications in the field.
The rest of the article is structured as it follows. In Section
II the fundamental modeling approach for the PAM will be
presented. In Section III the most significant applications of
PAMs will be presented, categorized in specific scientific
fields, while in the last Section IV the conclusions will be
drawn.
II. FUNDAMENTAL PAM MODELING
Various modeling approaches have been presented in the
scientific field of modeling PAMs. These modeling
approaches although incorporate basic and more detailed
analysis of PAMs, in the area of PAM applications, most of
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the models are based on the geometry of the PAM, mainly

due to the models simplicity and great relativity to the
experimental behavior. Among these models, the Chou and
Hannaford model [1] and the Tondu and Lopez model [15]
have been widely utilized in most of the applications that are
going to be presented in Section III.
The Chou and Hannaford model, is the most simple
geometrical model for a static performance of a PAM. The
proposed model is valid under the following assumptions: a)
the actuator is cylindrical in shape, b) the threads in the
sheath are inextensible and always in contact with the outside
diameter of the latex bladder, c) frictional forces between the
tubing and the sheath and between the fibers of the sheath
are negligible, and d) latex tubing forces are negligible.
With this approach the PAM actuator can be modeled as a
cylinder, depicted in Figure 2, with a length L, thread length
b, diameter D, and number of thread turns n. The angle is
defined as the angle of the threads with the longitudinal axis
[16].

Fig. 2. Simplified Geometrical Model of PAM.

approach and by: a) utilizing similar geometric description of

the muscle with [14], b) assuming inextensibility of the mesh
material, and c) angle changes during the alteration of the
PAMs length, the following mathematical modeling
approach can be derived, based on the theorem of virtual
work [13]:
F ( , P) r02 P a(1 )2 b

(5)

where:

(l0 l ) l0 , 0 max , a 3 tan 2 0 ,

b 1 sin 2 0

(6)

In equations (5) and (6), r0 is the nominal inner radius, l

the length of the muscle, l0 the initial nominal length, P the
pressure and 0 is the initial angle between the membrane
fibres and the muscle axis, while this model can also be
found in [18].
A disadvantage of the model is that its design is based on
the hypothesis of a continuously cylindricalshaped muscle,
whereas it takes a conic shape at both ends when it contracts.
Consequently, the more the muscle contracts, the more its
active part decreases. This phenomenon results in the actual
maximum contraction theoretically being smaller than that
expected from (5) [18]. For improving equation (5), an
empirical factor k has been added [15] to account for end
deformation of the PAM:
F ( , P) r02 P a(1 k )2 b

(7)

When the PAM actuator inflates, D and L change, n and b

remain constant, while the expressions for the PAMs length
and diameter can be formulated as:

where again 0 max and max is provided from:

L b cos ,

(1)

max (1 k )(1 b a )

(2)

inserted in this way within the considered static model, the

insertion of the parameter k does not modify the value of the
maximum force given at zero contraction. This is in
concordance with the conducted experiment since the PAM
has a cylindrical shape only when its contraction ratio is
zero.

D b sin (n )

where the thread length can be calculated as:

b ( L2 D2 n2 2 )1 2

Equation (2) is referred in the literature as the geometric

relationship for the PAM, while its volume is provided by:
V b3 sin 2 cos (4 n2 )

(3)

Utilizing the energy conservation principle, the PAM

simple geometric force Fg can be calculated as the gauge
relative pressure P' multiplied by the change in volume with
respect to length (this model can also be found in [17]):
Fg Pb2 (3cos2 1) (4 n2 )

(4)

Another simple and widely utilized geometrical model of

PAM is that of Tondu and Lopez [15]. Based on this
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(8)

III. APPLICATIONS OF PAMS

A. Biorobotic Applications
Until now PAMs have been applied mostly in the area of
biorobotic applications or in biomimetic robots. As these
actuators resemble the characteristics of actual skeletal
muscles, researchers have tried to emulate the soft"
compliant structure of organic muscle, bone, tendons and
skin by PAMs. This approach has led to the development of
biologically inspired robots that mimic the morphology and
physiology of humans and animals. Several biorobotic
applications of PAMs are presented in Figure 3.
1440

Fig. 3. Biorobotic applications of PAMs: (3.1) Shadow biped walker, (3.2) Isac, (3.3) Airbug, (3.4) Hopping robot, (3.5) Panter leg, (3.6) Ajax, (3.7)
Lucy, (3.8) Stumpy, (3.9) Low cost humanoid hand, (3.10) Pneumatic bicycle, (3.11) Threelegged robot, (3.12) Mowgli, (3.13) Robotic arm, (3.14)
Bipedal robot, (3.15) Quadruped robot, (3.16) Pneumatic torso, (3.17) Pneumatic athlete robot, (3.18) Pneumatic climbing robot, (3.19) Airics arm,
(3.20) Aqua Ray, (3.21) Shadow robot leg, (3.22) Robotic eye with pneumatic actuation

A pioneering PAMactuated robot has been the Shadow

Biped Walker (Figure 3.1) by Shadow Robot Co., a life
size humanoid robot that has been in development since
1988. Twentyeight PAMs (fourteen on each leg) were
acting across the eight joints of the robot, enabling a total of
twelve Degrees of Freedom (DOF). In [20], the humanoid
robot Intelligent Soft Arm Control or ISAC (Figure 3.2), was
consisted by two sixDOF arms and multiple PAMs that
antagonistically actuated each joint of the arms. The
construction of a sixlegged, insectlike robot, called
Airbug" (Figure 3.3), with fluidic muscles as actuators and
the control concept of antagonistic actuators, has been
presented in [21].
978-1-4577-0123-8/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

In [22], a hopping robot (Figure 3.4) has been built,

composed of a lower and upper leg, hip and body that slide
along a guide shaft with the use of pleated PAMs for the
knee joint movement. In [23], the authors developed the
fourlegged prototype Pneumatically Actuated dyNamically
sTable quadrupEd Robot (PANTER)(Figure 3.5). Every leg
of the PANTER had four active degrees of freedom and was
PAMactuated. In [24] the Ajax" robot (Figure 3.6) has
been introduced. Ajax was a cockroach inspired robot with
legs that were controlled via several PAMs. The biped robot
Lucy" (Figure 3.7) has been constructed in [25], a two
dimensional walking robot with two articulated legs and a
body that utilized 12 PAMs for 6 DOFs. The autonomous
1441

Fig. 4. Medical applications of PAMs: (4.1) PAMactuated forearm, (4.2) Muscle suit, (4.3) Powered-ankle foot orthosis, (4.4) Rupert, (4.5)
Pneumatic hip orthosis, (4.6) Pneumatic foot orthosis, (4.7) Haptic arm exoskeleton, (4.8) Upper body exoskeleton, (4.9) Upper body exoskeleton,
(4.10) Lower body exoskeleton, (4.11) Pneumatic power assist glove, (4.12) Knee rehabilitation device, (4.13) Orthosis for home training, (4.14)
Isokinetic equipment for recovery exercises

PAMactuated bipedal robot Stumpy" (Figure 3.8)

appeared in [26]. In [27], the authors designed a pneumatic
air muscle actuated robotic hand (Figure 3.9), incorporating
basic human finger, thumb, forearm and elbow movements.
In [28], a pneumatic muscle bicycle experimental apparatus
(Figure 3.10) has been constructed, which consists of oneDOF scale model of human lower limbs actuated by PAMs
and mounted on a stationary bicycle. A threelegged robot
(Figure 3.11) with antagonistic pairs of PAMs controlled by
a nonlinear oscillator network has been developed in [29]. In
[30], a pneumatically actuated bipedal jumping and landing
robot called Mowgli" (Figure 3.12) has been presented.
Mowglis artificial musculoskeletal system was consisted of
six PAMs.
In [31], a hybrid actuation concept was validated on a
twoDOF arm (Figure 3.13) that employed inherently safe
PAMs augmented with small electrical actuators, human
boneinspired robotic links, and newly designed distributed
compact pressure regulators. In [32], a bipedal robot (Figure
3.14) with an Artificial Musculoskeletal System based on
PAMs has been presented. In [33], the authors constructed
and controlled a quadruped robot (Figure 3.15) with PAMs
in antagonistic pairs to drive the musculoskeletal system. A
978-1-4577-0123-8/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

fully PAMactuated humanoid muscle robot torso called

ZweiArmRoboter" (Figure 3.16), in human-like
proportions and functionality, has been developed in [34]. In
[35], a Pneumatic Athlete Robot (Figure 3.17) has been
presented, with musculoskeletal system driven by PAMs and
applied human muscle activation patterns for dynamic
bipedal running.
The development and control of a vertical climbing robot
(Figure 3.18), actuated via four PAMs, has been described in
[36]. Festo AG & Co. constructed the Airics" robotic arm
(Figure 3.19), which is depicted in with artificial bones and
muscles. In this robot the bone structure was moved via 30
PAMs with the use of very small valves based on piezo
technology.
Additionally, Festo AG & Co. introduced the Aqua ray"
robot (Figure 3.20), a remotely controlled fish using six
PAMs in three antagonistic pairs that move the two wings
and the tail with the help of artificial tendons. Shadow Robot
Co. presented the Shadow RobotLeg (Figure 3.21), a
human size PAMactuated robotic leg developed for
investigation of myoelectric control of powered prosthetic
legs. A prototype robotic eye (Figure 3.22) with an artificial
oculomotor system that was driven by PAMs is currently
1442

Fig. 5. Industrial applications of PAMs: (5.1) Pneumatic 3-DOF robot, (5.2) PAMactuated robot arm system, (5.3) 2DOF planar robotic
manipulator (5.4) PAMs used in modal parameters of bridges, (5.5) Parallelkinematic hexapod tool, (5.6) Hybrid robot for safe humanrobot
interaction, (5.7) Industrial gripper, (5.8) Positioning system

been developed in Bristol Robotics Laboratory. In [37], the

authors control a robot with two degrees of freedom driven
by four artificial pneumatic muscle actuators.
B. Medical Applications
Among the several advantages of the PAM actuator, is the
ability to provide high power outputs, with relatively light
weights and possesses inherent compliance, thus, meeting the
need for safety, simplicity and lightness that humanrobot
interaction requires. Those characteristics, combined with
the fact that PAM possesses similar properties with those of
the human muscle, make it a promising actuator choice for
therapeutic devices, which are designed for rehabilitation
therapy of patients suffering from degenerative muscle
diseases, extremity impairment or neurological injuries that
affect their kinetic abilities. In this subsection, PAMS that
are focused in medical applications will be presented. Most
of these applications are depicted in Figure 4.
In [38], the performance of a PAM used in a prototype
wheelchairmounted robot arm has been reported. The
design and control of a Human Muscle Enhancer (HME)
system was described in [39]. The system augmented the
muscle capabilities of subjects requiring partial lowerlimb
weightbearing gait support.
The bipedal motion system design utilized PAMs in order
to provide the pneumatic power required to operate a
motionsupport robotic orthosis. In [40], the authors studied
the utilization of compliance regulated and controlled pairs
of antagonistic PAMs in the construction of dexterous
prosthetic hands and the construction of a power assist
device that could be used to augment the strength of those
suffering from degenerative muscle wasting diseases. A
PAMactuated prosthetic forearm (Figure 4.1) with flexor

978-1-4577-0123-8/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

and extensor groups of muscles, has been presented in [41],

[42].
The development of an armortype muscle suit (Figure
4.2) that provided muscular support to paralyzed patients has
been reported in [43]. The muscle suit was a garment without
a metal frame and utilized PAMs driven by compressed air.
In [44], a powered anklefoot orthosis (Figure 4.3) for leg
rehabilitation has been constructed. PAMs were used to
provide singlejoint support to the plantar flexion in
different phases of gait. A therapeutic device, called the
RUPERT" (Figure 4.4), which had five DOFs and was
powered via four PAMs, has been described in [45], [46].
This device was able to provide a supplementing therapy in
addition to the clinic treatment of patients suffering from
upper extremity impairment.
An exoskeleton (Figure 4.5), consisted of a hip orthosis
equipped with PAMs, has been developed in [47] to assist
the lower limb movements when a physical deficiency was
installed. In [48], [49], [50], the authors developed a
powered anklefoot orthosis (Figure 4.6) that utilized PAMs
for assisting patients during gait rehabilitation after injury.
The design of a fiveDOF PAMactuated haptic arm
exoskeleton (Figure 4.7) for training and rehabilitation in
virtual environments has been presented in [51]. In [52],
[53], [54], the authors developed compliant PAMactuated
exoskeletons that permit the execution of upper (Figure 4.84.9) and lower limb (Figure 4.10) physiotherapy.
In [55], a wearable power assist glove (Figure 4.11) driven
by rubber PAMs has been described. This device was able to
assist the bending motion and increase the grasping force of
the fingers through the installation of curved rubber PAMs.
A PAMactuated knee rehabilitation device (Figure 4.12)
has been developed in [56]. In [57], the authors presented the
application of PAMs in a novel motorized orthosis (Figure
1443

Fig. 6. Aerospace and other applications of PAMs: (6.1) PAMactivated trailing edge flap, (6.2) FM motion seat, (6.3) RoboThespian, (6.4) Deus Ex
Machina

4.13) for intensive homebased gait training in patients with

neurological disorders. Construction of a power assisted
robot arm that utilized rubber PAMs covered with
exoskeleton suits to mimic the motion of biarticular muscles,
has been appeared in [58]. A PAMactuated rehabilitation
robotic system with biofeedback has been developed in [59].
In [60], the development of a PAMactuated isokinetic
equipment (Figure 4.14), designed for recovery exercises of
the hip and knee joints, has been reported, while in [61], the
authors present a pneumatic muscle actuated robotized arm
for persons with locomotive disabilities.

robot (Figure 5.6) that included two bellows and one PAM
actuated module for safe humanrobot interaction.
In [71], other industrial applications of the PAM actuators
have been reported. One of them was the gripping process
(Figure 5.7), where the pneumatic artificial muscle was being
fitted sufficiently close to the center of rotation of the finger,
while this short muscle was being adequate to execute the
clamping motion. PAMs can also be utilized in simple
positioning systems (Figure 5.8). In this case the work pieces
can be raised or lowered as required by pressurizing or
exhausting the muscle via a hand lever valve.

C. Industrial Applications
The utilization of PAMs in the construction of industrial
robots has received significant attention during the last years.
PAMs are able to generate high torques at low and moderate
speeds, able to be installed easily without gearing and able to
work as the actuator of portable machinery due to their
lightweight properties. Having, also, a natural compliance
and shock resistance, PAMs are a suitable solution for
actuation of industrial machinery and particularly industrial
robots for safe humanrobot interaction. Several industrial
applications of PAMs are presented in Figure 5.
In [62], the authors developed a multijointed manipulator
with three fingers and an opposal thumb powered by 18
braided PAMs. The development of a modular oneDOF
pneumatic element and a threeDOF robot arm (Figure 5.1)
based on rubber PAMs, has been described in [63].
A rubber PAMactuated Robot Arm System (Figure 5.2)
with six degrees of freedom has been developed in [64] and
a twoDOF planar robotic manipulator (Figure 5.3) that
assisted in handling of heavy loads and was actuated by
Pleated Pneumatic Artificial Muscles, has been appeared in
[65], [66]. In [67], the authors propose a prototype design of
a teleoperational rig for retrieval of radioactive material that
uses a combination of the traditional man-handled
manipulation pole combined with PAMs.
The identification of the modal parameters of bridges
(Figure 5.4), with the use of PAMs, has been introduced in
[68]. In [69] a parallelkinematic hexapod tool (Figure 5.5),
driven by PAMs. The robot consisted of six discrete linear
actuators, each of which has been assembled as an
antagonistic setup of PAMs with pressure and position
sensors. In [70], the authors developed a prototype hybrid

D. Aerospace Applications
In [72], the authors developed the AGAS" system, an
autonomously controlled deployable airdrop system that
consisted of a round parachute, which was being controlled
via four PAMs, while a PAMactivated trailing edge flap for
flight control (Figure 6.1) is described in [73]. In [74], PAM
applications have been presented for the actuation schemes
of a morphing cell for a wing section and trailing edge flaps
for wings or rotorcraft blades.

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E. Other Applications
In [75], the FM Motion Seat" (Figure 6.2) has been
developed, a driving and flight simulator based on a hexapod
structure with 6 spatially oriented PAMs that moved the seat
in all the 6 axes and also acted as a passive suspension.
Engineered Arts Limited (Penryn, Cornwall, U.K. 2010),
developed the RoboThespian" (Figure 6.3). This robot was
a lifesized PAMactuated humanoid robot that was created
to educate, communicate, interact and entertain.
Jake Loniak (Art Center Pasadena, California, 2008)
designed the Deus Ex Machina" project (Figure 6.4), an
electric, single passenger, vertically parking, and wearable
motorcycle. With seven artificial vertebrae behind the
helmet, for supporting the riders head, the control of the
Deus Ex Machina" was achieved via 36 pneumatic muscles
and 2 linear actuators combined with the riders body.
IV. CONCLUSION
In this article a survey on applications of Pneumatic
Artificial Muscles has been presented. A brief modeling of
the widely utilized geometrical model of PAM has been
presented while the attention has been focused in presented
the most significant applications in the areas of: a)
1444

Biorobotic, b) Medical, c) Industrial, and d) Aerospace

applications. These applications have been accompanied
with a sufficient number of references, transforming this
article in a fundamental getting started guide in developing
applications with PAMs.
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