Design Principles for Energy-Efficient Legged Locomotion and Implementation on the MIT Cheetah Robot
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Efficiency-Principles-for-Quadrupeds_v3.pdf
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3.56 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Seok, Sang Ok
Chuah, Meng Yee
Hyun, Dong Jin
Lee, Jongwoo
Otten, David M
Lang, Jeffrey H
Kim, Sangbae
Date Issued
June 2015
Journal
IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Citation
Seok, Sangok et al. “Design Principles for Energy-Efficient Legged Locomotion and Implementation on the MIT Cheetah Robot.” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics 20.3 (2015): 1117–1129.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
This paper presents the design principles for highly efficient legged robots, the implementation of the principles in the design of the MIT Cheetah, and the analysis of the high-speed trotting experimental results. The design principles were derived by analyzing three major energy-loss mechanisms in locomotion: heat losses from the actuators, friction losses in transmission, and the interaction losses caused by the interface between the system and the environment. Four design principles that minimize these losses are discussed: employment of high torque-density motors, energy regenerative electronic system, low loss transmission, and a low leg inertia. These principles were implemented in the design of the MIT Cheetah; the major design features are large gap diameter motors, regenerative electric motor drivers, single-stage low gear transmission, dual coaxial motors with composite legs, and the differential actuated spine. The experimental results of fast trotting are presented; the 33-kg robot runs at 22 km/h (6 m/s). The total power consumption from the battery pack was 973 W and resulted in a total cost of transport of 0.5, which rivals running animals' at the same scale. 76% of the total energy consumption is attributed to heat loss from the motor, and the remaining 24% is used in mechanical work, which is dissipated as interaction loss as well as friction losses at the joint and transmission.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2014.2339013
