Skip to main content

Design of an Actuator for Biped Robots Based on the Axial Flux Motor

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Intelligent Robotics and Applications (ICIRA 2023)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 14270))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 497 Accesses

Abstract

High-performance actuators are critical to the biped robot, which are required to be high torque output, high dynamic response, and lightweight. The quasi-direct drive (QDD) actuation has the advantages of fast response and simple structure and has been widely used in quadruped robots, but its output torque and torque density are relatively low. Based on the scheme of QDD, a high torque and high torque density actuator is proposed for biped robots. It adopts an axial flux motor with a peak torque of 12.5 Nm and a two-stage planetary reducer with a reduction ratio of about 16. For the axial flux motor current is very large, we also design the driver with high current output capacity and introduce the air cooling method based on small fans. As a result, the proposed actuator has a maximum torque of 206 Nm, a maximum speed of 120 rpm, and weighs only 2 kg. Lots of experiments have been carried out to measure the characteristics of the actuator, and it has been successfully applied to our biped robot, which can meet the requirements of walking at a speed of 6 km/h.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Raibert, M.H.: Legged robots that balance. MIT press (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Wensing, P.M., Wang, A., Seok, S., et al.: Proprioceptive actuator design in the mit cheetah: Impact mitigation and high-bandwidth physical interaction for dynamic legged robots. IEEE Trans. Rob. 33(3), 509–522 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Yu, S., Huang, T.H., Yang, X., et al.: Quasi-direct drive actuation for a lightweight hip exoskeleton with high backdrivability and high bandwidth. IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron. 25(4), 1794–1802 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Englsberger, J., Werner, A., Ott, C., et al.: Overview of the torque-controlled humanoid robot TORO. In: 2014 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, pp. 916–923. IEEE (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Kaneko, K., Kaminaga, H., Sakaguchi, T., et al.: Humanoid robot HRP-5P: an electrically actuated humanoid robot with high-power and wide-range joints. IEEE Rob. Autom. Lett. 4(2), 1431–1438 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Tsagarakis, N.G., Caldwell, D.G., Negrello, F., et al.: Walk-man: a high-performance humanoid platform for realistic environments. J. Field Rob. 34(7), 1225–1259 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Radford, N.A., Strawser, P., Hambuchen, K., et al.: Valkyrie: Nasa’s first bipedal humanoid robot. J. Field Rob. 32(3), 397–419 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Chignoli, M., Kim, D., Stanger-Jones, E., et al.: The MIT humanoid robot: Design, motion planning, and control for acrobatic behaviors. In: 2020 IEEE-RAS 20th International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), pp. 1–8. IEEE (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Huang, R., Song, Z., Dong, Z., et al.: Design of a new double side axial-flux actuator for robot dog. In: 2022 International Conference on Electrical Machines (ICEM), pp. 900–906. IEEE (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Amin, S., Khan, S., Bukhari, S.S.H.: A comprehensive review on axial flux machines and its applications. In: 2019 2nd International Conference on Computing, Mathematics and Engineering Technologies (iCoMET), pp. 1–7. IEEE (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  11. TQ-Group Homepage. https://www.tq-group.com

  12. Allied Motion Homepage. https://www.alliedmotion.nl/

  13. Meng, F., Huang, Q., Yu, Z., et al.: Explosive electric actuator and control for legged robots. Engineering 12, 39–47 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Hua, Q., Zhou, W., Zhu, S., et al.: Design of a high-torque robot joint and its control system. J. Phys. Conf. Series 2281(1), 012007 (2022)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 52205034), “Pioneer” and “Leading Goose” R&D Program of Zhejiang (No. 2023C01177), Key Research Project of Zhejiang Lab (No. G2021NB0AL03), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52205076).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anhuan Xie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Hua, Q. et al. (2023). Design of an Actuator for Biped Robots Based on the Axial Flux Motor. In: Yang, H., et al. Intelligent Robotics and Applications. ICIRA 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 14270. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6492-5_22

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6492-5_22

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-99-6491-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-99-6492-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics