Patent ID: 9447849
Filing Date: 2016-09-20
CPC Classification: B25J,F16H

Claim Text:
1. A torque controlled actuator comprising: a frame; one or more timing belt stages coupled in serial on the frame, wherein the one or more timing belt stages include an input stage for coupling to a motor and an output stage for coupling to a load, wherein the one or more timing belt stages couple rotation of the motor to rotation of an output of the output stage; one or more belt idlers coupled to the frame, wherein the one or more belt idlers contact a timing belt of the output stage; a strain gauge coupled to the frame to determine a tension of the timing belt of the output stage based on force applied by the timing belt of the output stage to the one or more belt idlers; and a control bus and one or more processors, wherein the strain gauge outputs the tension of the timing belt of the output stage to the control bus, and the one or more processors are coupled to the control bus for determining output torque of the torque controlled actuator based on the tension of the timing belt of the output stage.