Granted Patent B2

US 12,427,677 · App. 19/046,366 · Granted Sep 30, 2025

Inventors: Elena Galbally Herrero (San Francisco, CA); Mikael Jorda (San Francisco, CA)

Assignee: Mytra, Inc.

B25J15/0033B25J9/1607B65G1/127B65G1/1371

Abstract

Claims (33)

1. A method for a vertical translation of a robot comprising:

autonomously controlling actuation of a plurality of arms of the robot to maintain compressive contact between a helical drive mechanism, at a distal end of each arm, and a set of helical racks; and

concurrently with controlling actuation of the plurality of arms:

receiving proprioception data from each helical drive mechanism of the plurality of arms;

based on the proprioception data and a target velocity, determining control instructions for the plurality of helical drive mechanisms by inverse-kinematics using a velocity-space grasp matrix; and

controlling actuation of a plurality of helical drive mechanisms, along the set of helical racks, according to the control instructions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the velocity-space grasp matrix constrains the sum of all rotations of the plurality of helical drive mechanisms to zero.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: estimating a geometric center of the robot based on a respective position of each arm of the plurality, wherein the velocity-space grasp matrix is based on a geometric center of the robot.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the respective position of each arm of the plurality is determined based on force-feedback.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein each arm of the plurality comprises a spring.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the control instructions for the plurality of helical drive mechanisms are independent of the force-feedback.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of helical drive mechanisms are controlled independently of the actuation of the plurality of arms.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: based on the proprioception data, estimating a vertical position of the robot, wherein the autonomous actuation of a plurality of arms is based on the vertical position of the robot.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, while autonomously controlling actuation of the plurality of arms to maintain compressive-contact between the helical drive mechanisms and the helical rack: calibrating the robot relative to a reference surface.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the reference surface comprises a superior surface of a support structure, wherein the set of helical racks are mounted to the support structure.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein calibrating the robot comprises:

determining a robot pitch angle and a robot roll angle while the robot is supported by the superior surface;

while maintaining the robot pitch angle and the robot roll angle, preloading each of the plurality of arms by actuating each helical drive; and

after preloading each of the plurality of arms, determining a reference rotation of each helical drive mechanism of the plurality.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein controlling actuation of the plurality of helical drive mechanisms according to the control instructions comprises maintaining the robot pitch angle and the robot roll angle within a threshold tolerance.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of helical drive mechanism comprises a first pair of helical drive mechanisms, at opposing ends of a first diagonal of the robot, and a second pair of helical drive mechanisms, at opposing ends of a second diagonal of the robot.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second pair of helical drive mechanisms are counter-rotating relative to the first pair.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first pair of helical drive mechanisms are actuated, along the first diagonal, by a respective pair of arms of the plurality of arms, wherein the second pair of helical drive mechanisms are actuated, along the second diagonal, by a respective pair of arms of the plurality of arms.

16. A method comprising:

with a set of sensors onboard a robot, determining a set of sensor data comprising force-feedback data and encoder data;

using a feedback controller based on the force-feedback data, automatically controlling linear actuation, along an actuation axis, of a spring-loaded arm; and

independently of the automatic control of the spring-loaded arm:

based on a target velocity for the robot, determining control instructions for a helical drive mechanism using an inverse-kinematic model; and

autonomously controlling the helical drive mechanism, along a vertical rack, according to the control instructions.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the control instructions are mathematically decoupled from the force-feedback data and the feedback controller.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the inverse-kinematic model is based on the geometric center of the robot, wherein the geometric center of the robot is estimated based on a position of the helical drive mechanism along the actuation axis.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the position of the helical drive mechanism is estimated based on force-feedback data.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the inverse-kinematic model constrains the rotation of the helical drive mechanism relative to the rotation of a plurality of helical drive mechanisms onboard the robot.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (14)