DIABLO: A 6-DoF Wheeled Bipedal Robot Composed Entirely of Direct-Drive Joints

TL;DR

DIABLO is a novel wheeled bipedal robot that uses direct-drive joints to reduce mechanical complexity and improve efficiency, demonstrating stable balance and versatile motion in simulations and real-world tests.

Contribution

The paper introduces DIABLO, a fully direct-drive wheeled bipedal robot that eliminates gearboxes, simplifying design and enhancing performance compared to traditional models.

Findings

Successful stability control using LQR-based balance controller

Effective motion control including yaw, split-angle, height, and roll

Demonstrated performance in both simulations and real-world experiments

Abstract

Wheeled bipedal robots offer the advantages of both wheeled and legged robots, combining the ability to traverse a wide range of terrains and environments with high efficiency. However, the conventional approach in existing wheeled bipedal robots involves motor-driven joints with high-ratio gearboxes. While this approach provides specific benefits, it also presents several challenges, including increased mechanical complexity, efficiency losses, noise, vibrations, and higher maintenance and lubrication requirements. Addressing the aforementioned concerns, we developed a direct-drive wheeled bipedal robot called DIABLO, which eliminates the use of gearboxes entirely. Our robotic system is simplified as a second-order inverted pendulum, and we have designed an LQR-based balance controller to ensure stability. Additionally, we implemented comprehensive motion controller, including yaw, split-angle, height, and roll controllers. Through expriments in simulations and real-world prototype, we have demonstrated that our platform achieves satisfactory performance.