Many papers exist in the literature dealing with the force function approximation for pneumatic artificial muscles (PAM) with different approaches. The aim of this paper was to create a more precise and simple transfer function for the braided fiber reinforced type PAM actuator. For evaluation purpose, 340 measurements were performed on a testbed using the FESTO DMSP-20-400 type artificial muscle. As a result, a new static model was described with 6.44N root-mean-square error (RMSE) in the whole operating range that consist of only six unknown parameters. By using the inverse of this function, it is possible to express the pressure required to maintain a given contraction with a given force. The compactness of the function results in high evaluation speed necessary for fast controllers and for modeling complex systems equipped with PAM actuator. The proposed model can be used in case of a limited number of measurements that is desirable in a practical calibration procedure. This capability can be used to develop a system with real-time calibration inducing longer operating time.

The rapid evolution of intelligent electronic devices makes information technology, computer science and electronics strongly related to the teaching of natural sciences. Today almost everybody has a smart phone that can convert light, temperature, movement, sound to numbers, therefore all these can be processed, analysed, displayed, stored, shared by software applications. The fundamental question is how education can follow this knowledge and how can education take its advantages. Components and methods of modern technology are available for education also, teachers and students can play with parts and tools which were previously used only by engineers. A good example is the very popular Arduino board which is practically an industrial microcontroller whose pins are wired to easy-to-use connectors on a printed circuit board. In this paper we show a universal system which we have developed for the Arduino platform to support experimenting and understanding of the most fundamental principles of the operation of modern devices. We show our related educational concept and discuss the most important features of the system. Open source hardware and software are available and we provide a number of video tutorials as well.

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