As seen in the image, the McKibbens actuator is a pneumatic muscle that is able to contract and expand with respect to changes in pressure. The muscle is made with soft materials, specifically, heat sealable fibers, inflatable bags, straws, and bolts to keep the end of the fibers in place. The muscle is able to contract and expand accordingly because of the individually woven fibers and the thin membrane of these fibers. McKibbens muscle's have wide applications in soft robotics, such as prosthetic limbs, force multipliers, and in different types of soft grippers. This actuator has lots of advantages, in that, it's self limiting, can be easily controlled, and can be easily manufactured.
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