High-Performance Torque Feedback Actuator for Humanoid Robots

Actuators are the most significant power sources for robot hardware platforms, and creating actuators suitable for humanoid robots remains a challenge. Humanoid robots demand more from their actuators, including higher massspecific torque, as well as both faster and more precise torque control. This paper presents the design of a novel actuator with torque feedback for humanoid robots that includes torque sensor, planetary gearbox, motor, drive, and encoder. The torque sensor is mounted at the output end of the actuator and forms a torque feedback loop from the torque source to the load. A hybrid controller for actuator torque control is also proposed in this paper. Finally, the performance of the actuator is experimentally evaluated.