Shaping the energy curves of a servomotor-based hexapod robot

The advantageous versatility of hexapod robots is often accompanied by high power consumption, while animals have evolved an energy efficient locomotion. However, there are a lack of methods able to compare and apply animals’ energetic optimizations to robots. In this study, we applied our method to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2024-05, Vol.14 (1), p.11675-12, Article 11675
Main Authors: Brodoline, Ilya, Sauvageot, Emilie, Viollet, Stéphane, Serres, Julien R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/61/2049/974
639/166/987
639/166/988
Animals
Automatic
Energy conservation
Energy efficiency
Engineering Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Locomotion
multidisciplinary
Power consumption
Robots
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
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Summary:The advantageous versatility of hexapod robots is often accompanied by high power consumption, while animals have evolved an energy efficient locomotion. However, there are a lack of methods able to compare and apply animals’ energetic optimizations to robots. In this study, we applied our method to a full servomotor-based hexapod robot to evaluate its energetic performance. Using an existing framework based on the laws of thermodynamics, we estimated four metrics using a dedicated test bench and a simulated robotic leg. We analyzed the characteristics of a single leg to shape the energetic profile of the full robot to a given task. Energy saving is improved by 10% through continuous duty factor adjustment with a 192% increase in power maximization. Moreover, adjusting the robot’s velocity by the step length and associating this with gait switching, reduces the power loss by a further 10% at low-speed locomotion. However, unlike in animals, only one unique optimal operating point has been revealed, which is a disadvantage caused by the low energetic efficiency of servomotor-based hexapods. Thus, these legged robots are severely limited in their capacity to optimally adjust their locomotion to various tasks—a counter-intuitive conclusion for a supposedly versatile robot.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-62184-y