# US 2011/0071680 A1 · Integrated high-speed torque control system for a robotic joint > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2011/0071680 A1 - Document ID: US20110071680A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 12/564,076 - Filed: 2009-09-22 - Published: 2011-03-24 - Earliest claimed: 2009-09-22 - Assignees: GM Global Technology Operations LLC; Oceaneering International, Inc. - Inventors: Donald R. Davis; Nicolaus A. Radford; Frank Noble Permenter; Michael C. Valvo - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20110071680A1 ## CPC - B25J 9/1633: {compliant, force, torque control, e.g. combined with position control} - G05B 2219/42093: Position and current, torque control loop - G05B 2219/42263: Different sample rates, multiple sample rates for the different loops - B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50}) - G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G) ## Abstract A control system for achieving high-speed torque for a joint of a robot includes a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) having a collocated joint processor and high-speed communication bus. The PCBA may also include a power inverter module (PIM) and local sensor conditioning electronics (SCE) for processing sensor data from one or more motor position sensors. Torque control of a motor of the joint is provided via the PCBA as a high-speed torque loop. Each joint processor may be embedded within or collocated with the robotic joint being controlled. Collocation of the joint processor, PIM, and high-speed bus may increase noise immunity of the control system, and the localized processing of sensor data from the joint motor at the joint level may minimize bus cabling to and from each control node. The joint processor may include a field programmable gate array (FPGA). ## Claims ### Claim 1 A control system for use with a robot having a plurality of joints each driven by at least one motor, the control system comprising: a high-level control circuit; and a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) including a joint processor and a high-speed bus providing a calibrated data transfer rate between the PCBA and the control circuit; wherein the PCBA is adapted for controlling a torque output of the at least one motor using a high-speed feedback torque control loop, and wherein the high-level control circuit provides both Cartesian space control and impedance-based control of the robot without also controlling the torque output. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the control loop is at least approximately 10 KHz. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the at least one joint includes a plurality of position sensors configured for determining a position and torque of the joint as respective analog signals, and wherein the PCBA includes a converter chip adapted for converting the analog signals to corresponding digital signals, and for communicating the digital signals to the joint processor. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the PCBA is embedded within the robot and collocated with the joint being controlled by the PCBA. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The control system of claim 1, wherein the joint processor includes a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The control system of claim 5, wherein the FPGA includes a plurality of processing chips, and wherein the PCBA has a steady-state power density of approximately 130 W/in2 to approximately 400 W/in2. ### Claim 7 A printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) for controlling the torque output of a motor-driven joint in a robot, the robot having a control circuit adapted for providing both Cartesian control and impedance-based control of the robot without also controlling the torque output, the PCBA comprising: a joint processor; and a high-speed bus providing a calibrated data transfer rate between the PCBA and the high-level control circuit; wherein the motor-driven joint is driven by at least one joint motor, and wherein the PCBA is adapted for providing feedback-based torque control of the at least one joint motor in a control loop of at least approximately 10 KHz. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The PCBA of claim 7, wherein the PCBA has a steady-state power density of approximately 130 W/in2 to approximately 400 W/in2. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The PCBA of claim 7, further comprising a power inverter module (PIM) for converting a DC link voltage into excitation waveform usable by the at least one joint motor. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The PCBA of claim 7, further comprising sensor conditioning electronics (SCE) adapted for processing a set of signals describing at least a position of a motor of one of the motor-driven joints. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The PCBA of claim 7, wherein the PCBA is collated with a corresponding one of the motor-driven joints. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The PCBA of claim 7, wherein the PCBA includes a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) with a plurality of onboard processors each having a processing speed of at least 300 MHz. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The PCBA of claim 12, wherein the PCBA is floating-point capable, and wherein the PCBA also includes at least 512 MB of non-volatile memory and at least 64 MB of volatile memory. ### Claim 14 (depends on 7) The PCBA of claim 7, wherein the high-speed bus is a serialized bus configured for serializing a stream of output data, and for communicating the stream of data to the control circuit at the calibrated data transfer rate. ### Claim 15 A robot comprising: a plurality of joint motors; a plurality of motor-driven joints each being driven by at least one of the joint motors; and a control system comprising: a high-level control circuit; and a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) including a processor and a high-speed bus, the bus providing a calibrated data transfer rate between the PCBA and the high-level control circuit; wherein the PCBA is adapted for controlling a torque output of a corresponding one of the joint motors using a feedback control loop of at least approximately 10 KHz, and wherein the high-level control circuit provides both Cartesian control and impedance-based control of the robot without also controlling the torque output. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The robot of claim 14, further comprising a position sensor configured for determining a position of the motor as an analog signal, wherein the PCBA includes a converter chip adapted for converting the analog signal to a digital signal, and for communicating the digital signal to the joint processor. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The robot of claim 14, wherein the PCBA is positioned within the joint that is being controlled by the PCBA. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The robot of claim 14, wherein the processor includes a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).