Review on Flexible Pneumatic Actuator and Its Application in Dexterous Hand

Current research statuses of several typical flexible pneumatic actuators were reviewed,such as McKibben PMA(pneumatic muscle actuator),3-DOF FMA(flexible microactuator),pneumatic rotary soft actuator,flexible fluidic actuator and FPA(flexible pneumatic actuator).The five flexible pneumatic actuators were profoundly discussed and their virtues and disadvantages were pointed out.Several flexible pneumatic dexterous hands based on the flexible pneumatic actuators were described and their characteristics were summarized.Taking account of these flexible pneumatic dexterous hands,the key problems need to be resolved in this area were concluded.