- Number
- 11292126
- Published
- 2022-04-05
- Filed
- 2019-10-17
- Assignee
- Disney Enterprises, Inc.
- Inventors
- Christensen; David Loyal, Niemeyer; Günter D., Pope; Morgan T., Estrada; Matthew A., Peloquin; Richard-Alexandre
- CPC
- B25J19/02; B25J19/0008; B25J11/003; B25J9/0006; B25J9/1602; B62D57/032
- Verdict
- High Hardware
- Source
- Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline
The keeper's note
Bipedal legged robot locomotion (BDX-droid-class hardware, granted).
Abstract
A robot system with a robot configured for locomotion about a space using ground reaction force (GRF) to provide a first level of balancing. The robot system includes force generators located on or in the robot's body or offboard in the space that act to generate balancing forces to provide a second level of balancing for the robot using non-conventional physics. Clamping of a robot's feet to a support surface is provided whenever the feet are in contact with the support surface using electromagnets in the feet and a layer of ferrous material on the support surface or using mechanical coupling techniques to temporarily anchor the foot to the support surface. A balance controller processes output of balance sensors and responds by generating control signals to operate force generators onboard the robot such as electric fans or inertial reaction wheels.
Background
BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Description (1) The present description relates, in general, to locomotion of bipedal robots (or, more generally, “robotic devices” or “robot systems”) and control methods for bipedal robots to provide balance during locomotion. More particularly, the description relates to robots and robot systems that are configured to rely upon non-conventional physics to achieve robust locomotion (e.g., locomotion with balance retention) rather than using ground reaction forces as common in conventional bipedal robots. 2. Relevant Background (2) The use of bipedal robots configured for locomotion is rapidly expanding to numerous diverse applications and environments. In many cases, bipedal robots have been designed to navigate in all terrains such as over surface that varies from planar to sloped and from smooth to irregular (e.g., rocky or one with obstacles). For example, bipedal robots are presently being designed to take the place of humans to perform work or activities in spaces that would be hazardous for humans, e.g., emergency responders, soldiers, and the like. As a result, these bipedal robots are being designed to have robust locomotion regardless of the terrain through control of ground reaction forces (e.g., conventional physics). (3) Bipedal locomotion, which may include walking and running, is one of the hardest challenges facing engineers in the robotics industry. While the issue of bipedal locomotion is of great interest to a host of academic re
Claims
1. A robot system for providing balance assistance to robots, comprising: a robot with a body positioned in a space; a sensor assembly sensing an angular orientation of the body of the robot or movement of the body relative to vertical; a balance controller generating control signals when the angular orientation or the movement of the body exceeds a predefined threshold value for retention of balance for the robot in the space; and a balance force generation assembly operating in response to the control signals to apply a balancing force upon the body of the robot to modify the angular orientation or resist the movement of the body relative to vertical, wherein the balance force generation assembly comprises at least one electric fan positioned on the body of the robot, and wherein the at least one electric fan is operable in response to the control signals from the balance controller to operate to output a stream of air from the body of the robot to apply the balancing force upon the body of the robot. ||
4. A robot system for providing balance assistance to robots, comprising: a robot with a body positioned in a space; a sensor assembly sensing an angular orientation of the body of the robot or movement of the body relative to vertical; a balance controller generating control signals when the angular orientation or the movement of the body exceeds a predefined threshold value for retention of balance for the robot in the space; and a balance force generation assembly operating in response to the control signals to apply a balancing force upon the body of the robot to modify the angular orientation or resist the movement of the body relative to vertical, wherein the balance force generation assembly comprises a fan in the space, wherein the robot is positioned in an output stream of air from the fan, and wherein the balance force generation assembly comprises at least one aerodynamic flap provided on an exterior surface of the body of the robot that is positionable by an actuator in response to the control signals to apply the balancing force on the body of the robot. ||
5. A robot system for providing balance assistance to robots, comprising: a robot with a body positioned in a space; a sensor assembly sensing an angular orientation of the body of the robot or movement of the body relative to vertical; a balance controller generating control signals when the angular orientation or the movement of the body exceeds a predefined threshold value for retention of balance for the robot in the space; and a balance force generation assembly operating in response to the control signals to apply a balancing force upon the body of the robot to modify the angular orientation or resist the movement of the body relative to vertical, wherein the balance force generation assembly comprises an inertial reaction wheel positioned within the body of the robot operating in response to the control signals to generate the balancing force. ||
6. A robot system for providing balance assistance to robots, comprising: a robot with a body positioned in a space; a sensor assembly sensing an angular orientation of the body of the robot or movement of the body relative to vertical; a balance controller generating control signals when the angular orientation or the movement of the body exceeds a predefined threshold value for retention of balance for the robot in the space; and a balance force generation assembly operating in response to the control signals to apply a balancing force upon the body of the robot to modify the angular orientation or resist the movement of the body relative to vertical, wherein the balance force generation assembly comprises at least one of a mechanism launching projectiles at the body of the robot in response to the control signals, a mechanism projecting water or air streams onto exterior surfaces of the body of the robot in response to the control signals, and a mechanism rotating or moving physical structural elements or objects in the space to strike an exterior surface of the body of the robot in response to the control signals. ||
7. A robot system for providing balance assistance to robots, comprising: a robot with a body positioned in a space; and a balance force generation assembly operating to apply a balancing force upon the body of the robot to resist tipping or falling of the robot, wherein the balancing force is a force that replaces or is additive of any ground reaction forces provided for balancing the robot during locomotion of the robot in the space, wherein the body of the robot comprises a left foot and a right foot, wherein the space comprises a support surface including an upper layer formed of a ferrous material, wherein the balance force generation assembly comprises at least one electromagnet in each of the left and right feet, and wherein a balance controller generates a control signal to independently operate the electromagnet in the left foot when the left foot is contacting the support surface and the electromagnet in the right foot when the right foot is contacting the support surface. ||
10. A robot system for providing balance assistance to robots, comprising: a robot with a body positioned in a space; and a balance force generation assembly operating to apply a balancing force upon the body of the robot to resist tipping or falling of the robot, wherein the balancing force is a force that replaces or is additive of any ground reaction forces provided for balancing the robot during locomotion of the robot in the space, wherein a floor is provided in the space comprising a plurality of retractable anchor elements, wherein the robot comprises a right foot and a left foot, and wherein the right and left feet each comprises a coupling mechanism for releasably engaging one of the retractable anchor elements when positioned on the floor over the one of the retractable anchor elements, whereby the right and left feet are selectively anchored to the floor. ||
12. A robot system for providing balance assistance to robots, comprising: a robot with a body positioned in a space; and a balance force generation assembly operating to apply a balancing force upon the body of the robot to resist tipping or falling of the robot, wherein the balancing force is a force that replaces or is additive of any ground reaction forces provided for balancing the robot during locomotion of the robot in the space, wherein the balance force generation assembly includes a first elongated permanent magnet oriented vertically in or on the body of the robot with a first pole at an upper end and an opposite second pole at a lower end, wherein the balance force generation assembly further includes a second elongated permanent magnet provided in the space at an offset distance from the body of the robot, wherein the second elongated permanent magnet is magnetically oriented similar to the first elongated permanent magnet vertically with a first pole at an upper end and an opposite second pole at a lower end proximate to the body of the robot, and wherein magnetic fields of the first and second elongated permanent magnets interact to provide the balancing force to retain alignment of the first and second elongated permanent magnets. ||
14. A system for retaining balance of a bipedal robot, comprising: a robot configured for bipedal locomotion in a travel space with balancing provided with components providing ground reaction force (GRF)-based control; and a non-conventional physics force generation assembly in the travel space operating at least periodically during the bipedal locomotion of the robot to apply a balancing force upon the robot to improve the balancing of the robot achieved solely with the GRF-based control, wherein the travel space includes a floor that the robot walks and stands on during the bipedal locomotion, and wherein the non-conventional physics force generation assembly comprises means for clamping each foot of the robot to the floor when the foot contacts an upper surface of the floor.