Development of control module in small-size modular actuator for robotics

To improve the existing small-size actuator for robotics, a control module in actuator was developed. After the control module was fixed in an actuator, the actuator would be capable of speed control, PVT position control and continuous trajectory tracking. Those functions are not supported by the existing actuators. The paper presents the development of control module in actuator. In the procedure of development, Dynamixel series RX28's reduction gear and mold were directly used to test the performances of control module. Two major tasks were involved in the development of control module. First, it was designing the hardware of control module. Second, it was developing the software to realize expected functionalities. Moreover, the realization of speed control, PVT position control and continuous trajectory tracking is presented in the paper. And the experiment results verify that the improved actuator can realize expected functions.