What is a good actuator for my robot?

Deciding which kind of actuator to use has bothered me for quite some time now. I would like to use this post to create a summary of what options are out there with pros and cons.

But first a definition. What exactly is an actuator? Actuators are used to move stuff. In my case I need actuators to move the legs of my robot. As you can se in the list below, there are a lot of different kinds of actuators to choose from:

• Electromechanical
• DC motor
• Gears
• Lead screws
• Servos
• Stepper motor
• Solenoid
• Spring return
• Single acting 
• Double acting 
• Pneumatic
• Cylinders
• Spring return
• Single acting 
• Double acting 
• Air Muscles
• Hydraulic
• Cylinder
• Spring return
• Single acting 
• Double acting

In my next posts I will cover the pros and cons of each type of actuator in more detail.

--Lennart

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