Development of a Hot Gas Actuator for Self-Powered Robots

This paper describes the design of a liquid-propellantpowered hot-gas actuator appropriate for human-scale power-autonomous robots. A prototype of the actuation system is described, and closed-loop tracking data is shown that demonstrates good motion control. Experiments to characterize the energetic performance of the actuation system indicate that the proposed system with a diluted propellant offers an energetic figure of merit five times greater than a battery-powered DC motor actuated system. Projections based on these experiments indicate that the same system powered by undiluted propellant would offer an energetic figure of merit an order of magnitude greater than battery-powered DC motor actuated systems.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Michael Goldfarb, Eric J. Barth, Michael A. Gogola, Joseph A. Wehrmeyer
• Keywords: Battery-powered Dc Motor, Energetic Figure, ICRA 2003, Motor Actuated Systems, Robotics