Role: System analysis, electronics integration
Scope: Developed software and electronics system for series elastic actuator. Experimentally determined bandwidth of series elastic actuator with various amounts of compliance.
This is a prototype rotary series elastic actuator designed to meet the torque and speed requirements of the knee or hip of a humanoid robot. It features a user-adjustable set of springs that interchangeable.
Series elastic actuators like this have a passive compliant element in them that makes them well-suited to applications involving interaction with the environment. The passive element reacts instantaneously to contact and an active control system modulates the position of the gearmotor to make the actuator behave with a desired mechanical impedance.
