Patent ID: 8442684

Claim:
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 top-level controller configured to generate task-based control input signals to thereby command execution of a required task; a brainstem configured to process the task-based control signals to thereby determine which of the joints to activate to execute the required task, and to coordinate the motion of the activated joints; and a joint-level controller in communication with the brainstem and having a plurality of printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs), wherein each PCBA includes a joint processor and a high-speed bus providing a calibrated data transfer rate between itself and the brainstem; wherein each PCBA is configured to control a torque output of the at least one motor only of a corresponding one of the joints using a high-speed feedback torque control loop of at least approximately 10 KHz, and wherein the brainstem provides both Cartesian space control and impedance-based control of the robot without also controlling the torque output.