Robotic vehicle with dynamic range actuators

1. A robotic vehicle comprising:

a chassis having front and rear ends;

an electric power source supported by the chassis; and

a drive control module comprising:

a drive control housing;

a drive motor carried by the drive control housing; and

a drive motor controller in communication with the drive motor and comprising:

a drive motor controller logic circuit; and

an amplifier commutator comprising a commutator in communication with the drive motor and a DC/DC converter capable of delivering both amplified and reduced voltage relative to an input voltage from the power source to the commutator;

wherein the amplifier commutator further comprises a programmable logic circuit in communication with the drive motor controller logic circuit, DC/DC converter, and commutator;

wherein the drive control module further comprises:

multiple magnetic field sensors mounted radially about to the motor, the magnetic field sensors detecting magnetic pulses;

a velocity sensor connected to the motor; and

a rotary position sensor connected to the motor;

wherein the drive motor controller logic circuit comprises logic for three cascading control loops comprising motor current, motor voltage, and motor rotor rotation; and

wherein the motor rotor rotation control loop of the drive motor controller logic circuit comprises:

reading a rotational position feedback from the rotary position sensor;

computing a commanded velocity based on current and velocity limits; and

writing the commanded velocity to a shared structure accessible by the other control loops.

2. The robotic vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the drive control module further comprises a back-drivable gearbox coupling the motor to a track.

3. The robotic vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the drive motor controller further comprises a health monitor capable of monitoring the proper functioning of the drive motor controller logic circuit and the amplifier commutator, the health monitor capable of sending a signal to the amplifier commutator to cease operation of the motor upon detecting a malfunction.

4. The robotic vehicle of claim 1 , further comprising a robot controller in communication with the drive control module.

5. The robotic vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the DC/DC converter receives about 42 V from the power source and is capable of delivering between about 0 V and about 150 V.

6. The robotic vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the power source comprises three 14 V batteries in series and three 14 V batteries in parallel, providing about 42 V.

7. The robotic vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the drive control module is separately and independently removable from a receptacle of the chassis as a complete unit.

8. The robotic vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the drive control module is sealed within the receptacle of the chassis from an outside environment and cooled.

9. A robotic vehicle comprising:

a chassis having front and rear ends;

an electric power source supported by the chassis; and

a drive control module comprising:

a drive control housing;

a drive motor carried by the drive control housing; and

a drive motor controller in communication with the drive motor and comprising:

a drive motor controller logic circuit; and

an amplifier commutator comprising a commutator in communication with the drive motor and a DC/DC converter capable of delivering both amplified and reduced voltage relative to an input voltage from the power source to the commutator;

wherein the amplifier commutator further comprises a programmable logic circuit in communication with the drive motor controller logic circuit, DC/DC converter, and commutator;

wherein the drive control module further comprises:

multiple magnetic field sensors mounted radially about to the motor, the magnetic field sensors detecting magnetic pulses;

a velocity sensor connected to the motor; and

a rotary position sensor connected to the motor;

wherein the drive motor controller logic circuit comprises logic for three cascading control loops comprising motor current, motor voltage, and motor rotor rotation; and

wherein the current control loop of the drive motor controller logic circuit comprises:

reading a current feedback from the commutator;

reading the magnetic field sensors;

computing a pulse-width modulation output;

writing the pulse-width modulation output to a shared structure accessible by the other control loops; and

updating a cycle counter.

10. A robotic vehicle comprising:

a chassis having front and rear ends;

an electric power source supported by the chassis; and

a drive control module comprising:

a drive control housing;

a drive motor carried by the drive control housing; and

a drive motor controller in communication with the drive motor and comprising:

a drive motor controller logic circuit; and

an amplifier commutator comprising a commutator in communication with the drive motor and a DC/DC converter capable of delivering both amplified and reduced voltage relative to an input voltage from the power source to the commutator;

wherein the amplifier commutator further comprises a programmable logic circuit in communication with the drive motor controller logic circuit, DC/DC converter, and commutator;

wherein the drive control module further comprises:

multiple magnetic field sensors mounted radially about to the motor, the magnetic field sensors detecting magnetic pulses;

a velocity sensor connected to the motor; and

a rotary position sensor connected to the motor;

wherein the drive motor controller logic circuit comprises logic for three cascading control loops comprising motor current, motor voltage, and motor rotor rotation; and

wherein the voltage control loop of the drive motor controller logic circuit comprises:

reading a velocity feedback from the velocity sensor;

reading a voltage feedback from the DC/DC converter;

computing a commanded current based on a current limit, maximum current from a thermal protection model, and a current rate of change limit; and

writing the commanded current to a shared structure accessible by the other control loops.