Humanoid robot with advanced wiring assembly
A humanoid robot includes first and second actuators interconnected by a wire bundle routed internally through the actuator structure rather than along its periphery. The first actuator includes a printed circuit board (PCB) positioned near a first side, the PCB having a terminal with signal pins, a positive voltage pin, and a ground pin. A second side of the first actuator, opposite the first side, includes an output portion, an actuator cover with a wire bundle opening, and an actuator opening extending through the second side. The second actuator includes a PCB with a corresponding terminal. The wire bundle has end connectors coupled to the respective PCB terminals, with the wires passing through both the actuator opening and the wire bundle opening of the first actuator. This internal routing arrangement enables compact, organized electrical interconnection between actuators without exposed peripheral wiring across the robot's joints.
1 . A humanoid robot, comprising:
a first actuator having:
a first side,
a first actuator printed circuit board (PCB) positioned near said first side of the first actuator and including a first PCB terminal with (i) a plurality of signal pins, (ii) a first positive voltage pin, and (iii) a ground pin, and
a second side that is opposed to the first side and including: (i) an output portion, (ii) an actuator cover coupled to the output portion and having a wire bundle opening formed therein, and (iii) an actuator opening formed through an extent of the second side;
a second actuator having:
a first side, and
a second actuator printed circuit board (PCB) positioned near said first side of the second actuator and including a second PCB terminal; and
a wire bundle having:
a first end connector coupled to the first PCB terminal,
a second end connector coupled to the second PCB terminal, and
a plurality of wires extending between the first end connector and the second end connector, and wherein said plurality of wires extends through the actuator opening of the second side of the first actuator and the wire bundle opening formed in the actuator cover of the second side of the first actuator.
2 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the first actuator includes a strain wave gearbox.
3 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the first actuator is positioned in a knee portion of the robot and is configured to allow power to be removed from the first actuator without causing the humanoid robot to fall to the ground.
4 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further comprising a second positive voltage pin, and wherein the first positive voltage pin is configured to conduct a first voltage that is higher than a second voltage that the second positive voltage pin is configured to conduct.
5 . The humanoid robot of claim 4 , wherein the second voltage is less than 48 volts.
6 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wires includes:
(i) a first wire coupled to both: (a) a first portion of the first end connector, and (b) a first portion of the second end connector, and (ii) a second wire coupled to both:
(a) a second portion of the first end connector, and (b) a second portion of the second end connector, and
wherein the first and second wires form a pair of twisted wires that are configured to transfer a first set of data signals between the first and second actuators.
7 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the wire bundle opening does not have a substantially circular cross-sectional area.
8 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wires includes a first portion that has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional area.
9 . The humanoid robot of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of wires includes a second portion that has a substantially circular cross-sectional area.
10 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the first end connector includes an outer surface that has a curvilinear extent.
11 . The humanoid robot of claim 10 , wherein the outer surface of the first end connector also includes a planar extent.
12 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the first actuator includes a permanent magnet synchronous motor coupled to a planetary gearbox.
13 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further comprising a computer configured to run a vision-language-action model that allows the humanoid robot to operate autonomously.
14 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the humanoid robot lacks wires that are positioned along the periphery of the first actuator.
15 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wires does not extend across more than two degrees of freedom.
16 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wires includes a first set of wires coupled to a second set of wires in a serial configuration.
17 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the first actuator includes an encoder that is coupled to at least one signal pin of the plurality of signal pins.
18 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further comprising a power distribution assembly that includes two different voltage channels, and wherein one voltage channel is configured to handle a voltage that is less than 24 volts.
19 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , further comprising a head having a screen positioned therein.
20 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the actuator opening of the first actuator resides in a first plane, and the wire bundle opening in the actuator cover resides in a second plane that is oriented at a non-zero angle relative to the first plane.
21 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the first actuator has a first rotational axis about which the output portion rotates, and the second actuator includes a second output portion that rotates around a second rotational axis of the second actuator; and
wherein the first rotational axis is oriented substantially orthogonal to the second rotational axis.
22 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the second PCB terminal includes a second plurality of signal pins; and
wherein a number of pins in the first plurality of signal pins is greater than a number of pins in the second plurality of signal pins.
23 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wires includes a first portion, and wherein said first portion is configured to twist radially within the first actuator when the output portion of the first actuator moves.
24 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wires includes:
a first portion of the plurality of wires includes an extent that is positioned within the first actuator and has a first shape; and
a second portion of the plurality of wires includes an extent that is positioned outside of the first actuator and has a second shape that is different from the first shape.
25 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the first PCB terminal is coupled to the first actuator PCB via a threaded nut and a threaded extent of the first end connector.
26 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the first actuator further comprises an inductive encoder that is operatively coupled to a portion of the first actuator PCB.
27 . The humanoid robot of claim 1 , wherein the first actuator further comprises a Hall-effect sensor that is operatively coupled to a portion of the first actuator PCB.