UCLA

Despite its potential as a high efficiency power-actuation mechanism, cryogen powered pneumatics system have been one of the least popular choice for robotic engineers due to its nonlinearities and other modeling complexities. For this thesis, an ideal model of liquid nitrogen powered pressurized vessel for pneumatic muscle actuator application with minimal complexity has initially been developed. Few control algorithms have been tested to investigate the robustness of the pneumatic force generation in creating stable profiles of output pressure of pressurized vessel. Then finally, a more realistic, low-cost, portable, increased-safety solution, both in terms of physical size and control platform, has been provided to meet the practical needs in the field of advanced robotics.