Paper Info
Title
Combining series-elastic actuation and magneto-rheological damping for the control of agile locomotion
Abstract
All-terrain robot locomotion is an active topic of research. Search and rescue maneuvers and exploratory missions could benefit from robots with the abilities of real animals. However, technological barriers exist to ultimately achieving the actuation system, which is able to meet the exigent requirements of these robots. This paper describes the locomotion control of a leg prototype, designed and developed to make a quadruped walk dynamically while exhibiting compliant interaction with the environment. The actuation system of the leg is based on the hybrid use of series elasticity and magneto-rheological dampers, which provide variable compliance for natural-looking motion and improved interaction with the ground. The locomotion control architecture has been proposed to exploit natural leg dynamics in order to improve energy efficiency. Results show that the controller achieves a significant reduction in energy consumption during the leg swing phase thanks to the exploitation of inherent leg dynamics. Added to this, experiments with the real leg prototype show that the combined use of series elasticity and magneto-rheological damping at the knee provide a 20 % reduction in the energy wasted in braking the knee during its extension in the leg stance phase.
Year
DOI
Venue
2011
10.1016/j.robot.2011.06.006
Robotics and Autonomous Systems
Keywords
Field
DocType
Agile legged robots,Large power-to-weight actuators,Hybrid actuators for robotics,Gait control,Compliance control
Control theory,Search and rescue,Efficient energy use,Simulation,Computer science,Robot locomotion,Robot,Energy consumption,Damper,Swing
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
59
10
0921-8890
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
14
0.86
15
Authors
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
E. Garcia125223.55
Juan Carlos Arevalo2376.63
G. Muñoz3140.86
P. Gonzalez de Santos415316.90