LINEAR ELASTIC ACTUATOR OF A BIPED ROBOT 'ROTTO'

The actuators with the serial elastic elements are been increasingly used in manipulators and walking robots nowadays. The elasticity allows not only storing energy, but also adds special characteristics to the actuator. The problem of a personal safety by casual contact with the industrial manipulators is the important issue. The solution is found in the control of the system impedance. The daunting problem of the walking mechanisms is a problem of the contact with the surface, where the big forces occur in short time intervals. The elastic element of the actuator allows the partial damping of the contact energy and gives the possibility to react on perturbation.