Variable transmission actuators for robotics

Part of my work at MIT in d’Arbeloff Laboratory, I developed a 3-DoF robotic arm using custom actuators with variable gear-ratios. The aim is to develop a lightweight & high-payload architecture for mobile and portable robots.

Technical challenges: Mechanical design, robotics, controls, software, motion planning.

MIT Team: Alexandre Girard (PhD student) and Prof. H. Harry Asada

Links:

• Thesis: Fast and strong lightweight robots based on variable gear ratio actuators and control algorithms leveraging the natural dynamics
• Article: Leveraging Natural Load Dynamics with Variable Gear-ratio Actuators
• Article: A Fast Gear-Shifting Actuator for Robotic Tasks with Contacts
• Article: A two-speed actuator for robotics with fast seamless gear shifting
• Code: github link