Trajectory tracking control of the bionic joint of the musculoskeletal leg mechanism

Pneumatic artificial muscles(PAMs) have properties similar to biological muscles,which are widely used in robotics as actuators.It is difficult to achieve high-precision position control for robotics system driven by PAMs.A 3-DOF musculoskeletal bionic leg mechanism is presented,which is driven by PAMs for quadruped robots.PAM is used to simulate the compliance of biological muscle.The kinematics of the leg swing is derived,and the foot desired trajectory is planned as the sinusoidal functions.The swing experiments of the musculoskeletal leg mechanism are conducted to analyse the extension and flexion of joints.A proportional integral derivative(PID) algorithm is presented for controlling the flexion/extension of the joint.The trajectory tracking results of joints and the PAM gas pressure are obtained.Experimental results show that the developed leg mechanism exhibits good biological properties.