Proceedings of the
9th International Conference of Asian Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (ASPEN2022)
15 – 18 November 2022, Singapore
doi:10.3850/978-981-18-6021-8_OR-02-0284
Hybrid Electromagnetic Actuator with A Dual Rotorconfiguration
Adaptive Robotics and Mechatronics Group, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 2 Fusionopolis Way, 138634, Singapore
ABSTRACT
A mobile robot is required to operate in various environment depending on the application needs. For instance, when working outdoors, the mobile robot may need to navigate rocky terrain; indoors, it may need to overcome challenges like scaling stairs. It is important that the mobile robot has the versatility to operate in an unstructured environment to make it truly useful. The key enabler of such versatile operation lies in the locomotion mechanism of the mobile robot. Recent research activities in this area have seen the development of transformable, deployable and shape changing wheels, giving the mobile robot some mechanical advantage to overcome obstacles or rough terrain. However, one of the key limitations in implementing of such transformable wheels is the actuator or the motor drive unit. For example, when a robot with transformable wheels switches from wheeled to legged motion, the torque demand on the motor increases significantly. Currently, most commercially available electric motors that are available commercially are optimized for a single purpose. In this paper, a dual rotor hybrid electromagnetic actuator that is designed for both high speed wheeled locomotion as well as high torque legged locomotion at lower speed is presented together with a simulation of its electromechanical characteristics through a numerical model of the actuator.
Keywords: Actuation, Electromagnetics, Mobile robots.
Adaptive Robotics and Mechatronics Group, Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology, 2 Fusionopolis Way, 138634, Singapore
ABSTRACT
A mobile robot is required to operate in various environment depending on the application needs. For instance, when working outdoors, the mobile robot may need to navigate rocky terrain; indoors, it may need to overcome challenges like scaling stairs. It is important that the mobile robot has the versatility to operate in an unstructured environment to make it truly useful. The key enabler of such versatile operation lies in the locomotion mechanism of the mobile robot. Recent research activities in this area have seen the development of transformable, deployable and shape changing wheels, giving the mobile robot some mechanical advantage to overcome obstacles or rough terrain. However, one of the key limitations in implementing of such transformable wheels is the actuator or the motor drive unit. For example, when a robot with transformable wheels switches from wheeled to legged motion, the torque demand on the motor increases significantly. Currently, most commercially available electric motors that are available commercially are optimized for a single purpose. In this paper, a dual rotor hybrid electromagnetic actuator that is designed for both high speed wheeled locomotion as well as high torque legged locomotion at lower speed is presented together with a simulation of its electromechanical characteristics through a numerical model of the actuator.
Keywords: Actuation, Electromagnetics, Mobile robots.
