KINOVA
®
Gen3 Ultra lightweight robot
User Guide
43
Figure 16: Controller connector panel
* to be implemented in future software release
Actuators
This section provides an overview of the robot actuators.
The rotational motion at each of the joints of the robot is powered by rotary actuators. There
is one actuator for each joint. Each actuator allows for potentially unlimited rotation in either
direction (There are software limits however on some joints however to avoid collisions
between robot shell segments).
There are two sizes of actuator:
• small
• large
Each actuator has:
• torque sensing
• current and temperature sensing on each motor phase
Wrist joints use small actuators, while large actuators are used for other joints. All actuators are
equipped with a 100:1 strain wave gear for smooth motion.
The actuators are connected to each other and to the interconnect board using a series of 41-
pin flex cables. These cables convey:
• power
• 2 x full-duplex 100 Mbps Ethernet
º one for 1 kHz control
º one for vision / expansion data traffic
Actuator Specifications:
• actuator speed (maximum, unloaded):
º 25 RPM (small)
º 17 RPM (large)
• actuator torque (small):