Development of a highly backdrivable transmission for robotic applications

At DFKI there are several projects related to dynamic applications. The development of a robot that can operate effectively in dynamic environments is becoming increasingly important for several reasons such as demographic, environmental changes and ambitious space missions. Therefore, Much  research is being carried out to improve the robots' control abilities. However, the transmission, which plays a significantly important role in backdrivability, efficiency and impact mitigation capabilities of the powertrain and thereby the  dynamic performance, need to be more explored. Transmissions have the ability to amplify torque, reduce or increase the velocity and reverse the direction of the motion if required. This allows the use of lower torque, lower inertia motors, thus reducing the size and the weight of the motors and improving the overall dynamic performance of the robot. The aim is to develop a transmission that is highly backdrivable,efficient, operates with low backlash and high repeatability.