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OpenTorque v2

A project log for OpenTorque Actuator

A powerful, compliant actuator for legged robotics

gabrael-levineGabrael Levine 11/17/2018 at 00:362 Comments

This is the new version of the OpenTorque actuator (still under development). I've made a number of design improvements:

These improvements are aimed at making it easier to build systems with large numbers of OpenTorque actuators. I'm using the new actuator for my Blackbird Bipedal Robot but it's also well-suited for quadrupeds, robot arms, exoskeletons, and so forth. 

Discussions

Jeroen Houwers wrote 11/19/2018 at 18:17 point

Nice work! Are you going to share the design?

Question: Why did you choose for the planetary gears? A Cycloide drive seems also suitable for 3D printing, gives low backlash and a easy adjustable gear ratio. 

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Gabrael Levine wrote 11/19/2018 at 19:11 point

Yeah, the design isn't completely finished yet but I'll share it once it is. 

A cycloidal drive would have a higher gear ratio and therefore higher reflected inertia, so it wouldn't be suitable for quasi-direct-drive. According to Simon Kalouche's thesis (https://www.ri.cmu.edu/pub_files/2016/8/kaloucheThesis.pdf) the maximum ratio for a QDD actuator is 10:1. 

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