AN ENERGY SAVING METHOD IN A SELF-CONTAINED WORKING ROBOT

摘要

It is essential to find a low-energy consumption system for developing a self-sufficient working robot. "Self-contained working robot" means a robot which has no external energy supply, such as electrical power or communication data. The biggest problem of this kind of "self-contained working robot" is the selection of the energy source. Recently a prototype of a patient care robot has been developed as an example of a "self-contained working robot". Although a combustion engine might be the most powerful energy source for locomotive machines, it cannot be used for the patient care robot since its noise and exhaust gas are not be allowed inside a hospital. Batteries for automobiles can be the cheapest and the most convenient energy sources. In the newly developed patient care robot MELKONG, only two automobile batteries are used as an energy supply to the five motors; one is for a pump of the hydraulic system of the manipulators, the other four are for the driving and steering of the vehicle. This paper shows the new energy saving hydraulic system without any special hydraulic parts. The control unit is composed of the two micro-computer systems. Each consists of an Intersil's 12-bit CMOS micro-processor, ADs, DAs, and DIOs, and all of them are made of CMOS LSIs. The total electricity consumption of this on-board micro-computer resulted in only two watts.