Leg assembly and device for robot

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12344336-B2
Application number	US-202217743982-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2022
Priority date	Aug 11, 2020
Publication date	Jul 1, 2025
Grant date	Jul 1, 2025

Abstract

This application relates to a leg assembly and device for a robot. The leg assembly includes: a connection assembly and a sole assembly; the connection assembly is configured to connect the leg assembly and a robot body. The sole assembly includes a sole plate, a first force sensor, a distance sensor, and an attitude sensor. The connection assembly includes a second force sensor and a shank connector. The first force sensor is configured to detect a normal reaction force suffered by the sole plate after being in contact with an obstacle; the second force sensor is configured to detect a resultant force of reaction forces suffered by the sole plate after being in contact with the obstacle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A leg assembly for a robot, comprising:
a sole assembly, the sole assembly comprising:
a sole plate;
a first force sensor, wherein the first force sensor is configured to detect a normal reaction force suffered by the sole plate after being in contact with an obstacle;
a distance sensor, wherein the distance sensor is configured to detect a current distance between the sole plate and the obstacle; and
an attitude sensor, wherein the attitude sensor is configured to detect a spatial orientation of the sole plate; and

a connection assembly, the connection assembly comprising:
a second force sensor, wherein the second force sensor is configured to detect a resultant force of reaction forces suffered by the sole plate after being in contact with the obstacle; and
a shank connector,

wherein the connection assembly is configured to connect the leg assembly with a robot body, and
wherein the first force sensor, the distance sensor, the attitude sensor, and the second force sensor are electrically connected to a control unit.

2. The leg assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the sole assembly and the connection assembly are connected through a joint assembly that comprises a joint ball socket, a ball joint, and an elastic assembly, and wherein the sole plate is configured to drive, in response to a reaction force from a contact surface, the joint ball socket to rotate with up to three degrees of freedom relative to the ball joint so that the sole plate adapts to fitting the contact surface.

3. The leg assembly according to claim 2 , wherein the elastic assembly comprises a conical return spring configured to be in a passively compressed state when the sole plate is in contact with the obstacle, wherein the conical return spring is further configured to release stored energy when the sole plate is separated from the obstacle, to drive the sole plate to restore to an initial state.

4. The leg assembly according to claim 2 , wherein the joint ball socket is a joint ball socket with a limiting structure, and wherein front and rear edges of the joint ball socket are designed into low edge positions, and left and right edges of the joint ball socket are designed into high edge positions.

5. The leg assembly according to claim 4 , wherein the joint assembly is configured to expand a motion range through the front and rear low edge positions of the joint ball socket for a degree of freedom in pitch, and the joint assembly is configured to maintain a small motion range through the left and right high edge positions of the joint ball socket for a degree of freedom in roll.

6. The leg assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the sole plate is a metal structure with a void or a groove; and wherein connection wires of the first force sensor, the distance sensor, and the attitude sensor are connected to the control unit through the void or the groove in the metal structure.

7. The leg assembly according to claim 6 , wherein a bottom and an outer side of the metal structure are cladded with sole rubber.

8. The leg assembly according to claim 7 , wherein the first force sensor is an ionic thin-film force sensor; the ionic thin-film force sensor is located between the sole rubber and the bottom of the metal structure; and the ionic thin-film force sensor has a ring shape.

9. The leg assembly according to claim 7 , wherein the distance sensor is a thin-film distance sensor located in a middle area between the sole rubber and the bottom of the metal structure; and a thickness of the sole rubber corresponding to a lower part of the thin-film distance sensor is smaller than a thickness of the sole rubber at another position.

10. The leg assembly according to claim 6 , wherein the attitude sensor is disposed in the groove of the metal structure.

11. The leg assembly according to claim 2 , wherein the elastic assembly comprises a conical return spring disposed on a periphery of the ball joint, and wherein a lower end of the conical return spring is connected to the sole plate, and an upper end of the conical return spring is connected to the shank connector.

12. The leg assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the shank connector is a hollow triangular prism connector; and a lower end of the shank connector is connected to the second force sensor by a flange.

13. The leg assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the attitude sensor is an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

14. The leg assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the second force sensor is a six-axis force sensor.

15. The leg assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is disposed in the robot body.

16. The leg assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the robot based on detection results of the first force sensor, the distance sensor, the attitude sensor and the second force sensor.

17. The leg assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising a shock absorbing gasket disposed between the attitude sensor and the sole plate to reduce a measurement interference on the attitude sensor caused by a landing impact of the sole plate.

18. The leg assembly according to claim 2 , further comprising a seal ring configured to strengthen a connection with an upper cover of the sole plate.

19. The leg assembly according to claim 18 , wherein the joint assembly further comprises a flexible cover, an upper snap ring and a lower snap ring, wherein the lower snap ring is configured to fix a first end of the flexible cover on the upper cover of the sole plate and the upper snap ring is configured to fix a second end of the flexible cover on the shank connector.

20. The leg assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the leg assembly is configured to execute movement instructions provided by the control unit to cause the robot to move according to the movement instructions.

Assignees

• Tencent Tech Shenzhen Co Ltd

Inventors

• Chi Wanchao
• Zheng Yu
• Dai Yuan
• Xiong Kun
• Chen Xiangyu
• Zhou Qinqin
• Zhang Zhengyou

Classifications

• B25J13/089

  Determining the position of the robot with reference to its environment · CPC title

• B25J13/085

  Force or torque sensors (B25J13/082, B25J13/084 take precedence) · CPC title

• B62D57/032 Primary

  with alternately or sequentially lifted supporting base and legs; with alternately or sequentially lifted feet or skid (B62D57/024 takes precedence) · CPC title