Precise dynamic modeling of pneumatic muscle actuators with modified Bouw–Wen hysteresis model

Abstract

Pneumatic muscle actuators (PMAs) are frequently used in a wide variety of biorobotic applications, such as robotic orthoses and wearable exoskeletons, due to their high power/weight ratio and significant compliance. However, the asymmetric hysteresis nonlinearity reduces their fidelity and cause difficulties in the accurate control procedure. In this paper, Bouc–Wen hysteresis model is modified to describe the asymmetric force/length hysteresis of the PMA. The effect of muscle length on hysteretic restoring force is considered in this modified model and experimental results show that the proposed model has a better performance to characterize the asymmetric hysteresis loop of pneumatic muscles. The nonlinear pressure/force model of these actuators also is modeled precisely and its performance is experimentally verified for different muscle lengths.