“Vacuum bellows” are membrane-reinforced contractile actuators that are subjected to negative internal gauge pressures. Though a popular research topic at the moment, the ideas behind these actuators are ancient. My work explored the effect of ring spacing on the actuator performance. My model reveals that by spacing the rings far apart, it is possible to achieve forces many times greater than an equivalent-diameter vacuum cylinder at the same pressure.

Related Publications

• Felt, W., Robertson, M.A. and Paik, J., 2018, “Modeling Vacuum Bellows Soft Pneumatic Actuators with Optimal Mechanical Performance”, Soft Robotics (RoboSoft 2018), 2018 IEEE-RAS International Conference on, [Preprint]