This Robot Can Do More Push-Ups Because It Sweats

Evan Ackerman for IEEE Spectrum:  When we use our muscles, they produce heat as a byproduct. When we use them a lot, we need to actively cool them, which is why we sweat. By sweating, we pump water out of our bodies, and as that water evaporates, it cools us down. Robots, especially dynamic robots like humanoids that place near-constant high torque demands on their motors, generate enough heat that it regularly becomes a major constraint on their performance. One of the reasons that SCHAFT did so well at the DRC Trials, for example, was their fancy liquid-cooled motors that could put out lots of torque over an extended period of time without overheating.

Engineers solve this heat-generating problem in most mechanical systems by using fans, heat sinks, and radiators, which means that you’ve got all of this dedicated cooling infrastructure that takes up space and adds mass. At the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) this week, Japanese researchers presented a novel idea of how to cool humanoid robots in a much more efficient way: Design them to be able to sweat water straight out of their bones.  Cont'd...

Comments (0)

This post does not have any comments. Be the first to leave a comment below.


Post A Comment

You must be logged in before you can post a comment. Login now.

Featured Product

FAULHABER MICROMO - Game changer in logistics

FAULHABER MICROMO - Game changer in logistics

The demands that modern intralogistics place on the used drives are high: In many instances, they must be capable of releasing tremendous forces under extremely confined conditions, also work reliably in continuous or stop-and-go operation, and oftentimes they must also perform highly precise positioning tasks. The speed also plays an important role, after all, many thousand orders need to be processed every day in large warehouses. Drive systems from FAULHABER have often demonstrated their performance here during sorting and transporting as well as with storage and retrieval. Thanks to their modular design, the motors can be combined with a variety of high-resolution encoders for precise positioning tasks and with high-performance gearheads for high torque requirements. There are also compact motion controllers that can either be integrated in the drives or arranged externally.