Humanoid robot implementing a spherical hinge with coupled actuators

摘要

A humanoid robot includes a spherical joint with three degrees of freedom in rotation about three axes, the spherical joint connecting a first element and a second element of the robot, and three actuators for moving the spherical joint. The three actuators include a first actuator coupled to the first element, a second actuator coupled to the second element and the first actuator, and a third actuator coupled to the second element and the first actuator. The second actuator and the third actuator act in parallel and coupled together. The first actuator acts in series with the second actuator and the third actuator about a first axis of the three axes. An angular range of movement about the first axis is greater than an angular range of movement about either a second axis or a third axis of the three axes.