Robotics from Disney Research have developed a new generation of hybrid drive

A group of robotics from Disney Research and invited enthusiasts created a robot with a new generation of hydrostatic drives, which allow surprisingly accurate and smooth simulation of human movement. Innovative actuators combining pneumatic and hydraulic elements in the design are capable of providing the robot's movements with significantly greater accuracy of movements, the possibility of delicate gripping and holding fragile objects.

There are two main types of motor systems that support the motor activity of a robot - pneumatic and hydraulic. Each of them has its own unique advantages, but it also encounters a number of technical limitations that ultimately determine the level of feedback and control of the movements performed by the robot.

So hydraulic systems give any machine the power of Hercules, provide a sufficiently high accuracy of movements and provide opportunities for the implementation and flexible configuration of feedback. However, such systems are non-compact and heavy, 100% dependent on external power sources. A simple and reliable pneumatic system does not imply the presence of an external power source, but it imposes rather serious restrictions on the layout of cable runs and motors, demonstrates poor quality feedback and provides minimal control. Electric systems on the level of disclosed capabilities occupy an intermediate position.
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The Disney Research team of researchers who created the hybrid drive is already quite familiar to the professional community to create robots that use the most advanced technologies, including Microsoft's Kinect, Xtion Pro Live from ASUS, and others. The engineers deftly exchanged balls with the man in 2012 year



Another example is a Japanese engineer robot capable of accurately and quickly juggling with one hand, demonstrated by developers at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA).



Now a group of engineers at Disney Research under the leadership of John P. Whitney (John P. Whitney) from Northeastern University has developed the design of a unique hydraulic-pneumatic drive, incorporating the advantages of pneumatic systems and hydraulics, which are still used separately. In the new drive instead of the joints, fully controlled by a pair of hydraulic valves, the movement in a given direction is carried out by hydraulics, and the return to the initial position is pneumatics. This solution has significantly simplified the design of the drive, and the use of the capabilities of pneumatics, which acts as an additional damper, provides the movements with increased smoothness and naturalness.



In the hybrid drive proposed by engineers, a single engine is used, the hydraulic system is greatly facilitated. As a result, the whole structure turned out fast, easy and accurate. Another advantage of the proposed hybrid system in comparison with robotic systems operating on clean hydraulics is the absence of a hard power supply dependence. The residual compressed air supply of the pneumatic part of the system may do some limited useful work. So a robot surgeon with similar drives in case of failure of the supply laboratory complex will be able to return the arm with the instrument to its original position, freeing access to the patient’s body to a human surgeon.

For bench tests, engineers prepared the simplest prototype of a hybrid system without lower limbs. The upper part of a humanoid robot has two manipulators with four degrees of freedom for each. Miniature stereoscopic cameras are installed on the head of the robot, providing the robot with the possibility of visual contact with the environment, and in case of switching to the remote control mode, it is possible to transfer the picture of reality to a human operator.

Remote control of the robot is made possible through special hand-held controllers that provide the possibility of feedback. Wearing a virtual reality helmet, the operator thus “blurs the line” between himself and the robot. The latter in this case exactly repeats the movements of the person, and the person sees everything that happens in front of the camera-eye of the robot. The accuracy of the repetition of movements and the resolution of the feedback is such that a person, by operating with the hands of a robot, will be able to thread a thread through the eye of a needle and perform such ultra-precise manipulations. At the same time, the speed of the movement, the speed of reaction and the level of coordination will be enough to make high-speed manipulations - to catch the ball thrown, etc.



“The new hybrid drives give the robot incredible smoothness and quickness of movement, allowing it to manipulate fragile items, interact with people or animals, and perform very subtle operations,” says Jessica Hodgins, vice president of Disney Research and professor of robotics at Carnegie University. Malone, - “Now the robot can only work with a remote control. But he can, keeping all the parameters of mechanical movement, act in automatic mode. And work in this direction is already underway by our experts. ”

In more detail with information about new hybrid drives, their characteristics and prospects for use in robotics, the developers intend to talk at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation ICRA 2016 (IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation) in Stockholm.



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