System and method for failure detection of a robot actuator

A computing device, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a computer-readable medium, configured to store instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:
• receiving a first result of an actuation of a robot actuator from a first sensor of the robot actuator,
• receiving a second result of the actuation of the robot actuator from a second sensor of the robot actuator,
• determining a first estimate of an internal state of the robot actuator using the first result of the actuation,
• determining a second estimate of the internal state of the robot actuator using the second result of the actuation and a normalization function, wherein the normalization function normalizes the second result of the actuation for comparison with the first estimate of the internal state of the robot actuator,
• determining whether a difference between the first estimate of the internal state of the robot actuator and the second estimate of the internal state of the robot actuator satisfies an error threshold, and
• in response to determining that the difference does not satisfy the error threshold, providing an output indicative of a potential fault of the robot actuator.

A system, comprising:

• a robot actuator;
• at least two sensors configured to measure actuator activity of the robot actuator;
• and
• a computer-based controller configured to:
• receive a first result of an actuation of the robot actuator from a first sensor of the at least two sensors,
• receive a second result of the actuation of the robot actuator from a second sensor of the at least two sensors,
• determine a first estimate of an internal state of the robot actuator using the first result of the actuation,
• determine a second estimate of the internal state of the robot actuator using the second result of the actuation and a normalization function, wherein the normalization function normalizes the second result of the actuation for comparison with the first estimate of the internal state of the robot actuator,
• determine whether a difference between the first estimate of the internal state of the robot actuator and the second estimate of the internal state of the robot actuator satisfies an error threshold, and
• in response to determining that the difference does not satisfy the error threshold, provide an output indicative of a potential fault of the robot actuator.