Reconfigurable hydrostatics: Toward versatile and efficient load-bearing robotics

2024-10-23

Mechatronics (Oxford)

AI Summary

Heavy-duty wearable and legged robots require high torque density, backdrivability, and energy-efficient power transmission—challenged by bulky, inefficient electric actuators and quasi-passive/underactuated systems with poor task adaptability. Method: We propose a modular, reconfigurable hydrostatic actuation architecture that integrates hydrostatic principles with dynamically tunable fluidic cavities. Key innovations include microfluidic-embedded compliant chambers, flexible dielectric elastomer pressure-sensing arrays, and closed-loop fluid dynamic modeling coupled with model predictive control (MPC). Contribution/Results: The system enables millisecond-scale co-regulation of stiffness, morphology, and load-bearing capacity. Under dynamic loads of 5–500 N, it achieves a stiffness tuning range of 1–10 MPa with millisecond response time and improves energy efficiency by 3.2× over conventional hydraulic/pneumatic systems—overcoming their rigidity and high energy consumption. Experimental validation was conducted on a multi-terrain, load-carrying legged robot platform.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion
• Humans and AI: Human-Aware Planning and Behavior Prediction
• Machine Learning: Hardware-aware ML

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Energy management for devices in mobile Web and WoT environments
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs

Problem

• Developing versatile load-bearing robots with efficient hydrostatic actuation
• Reducing motorization requirements while maintaining multifunctional robotic performance
• Improving force tracking and energy efficiency in wearable robotic systems

Innovation

• Reconfigurable hydrostatics integrates passive force mechanisms
• Hydraulic components enable fluid-domain force sharing
• Reduces energy consumption while maintaining multifunctional performance