A New Actuator System Using Dual-Motors and a Planetary Gear

This paper proposes a new actuator system for mobile robot applications. Since the actuator system to be proposed consists of dual-motors and a planetary gear, it is referred to as the dual-motor system using a planetary gear (DuPG) in this paper. The suggested DuPG improves the speed-torque performance by combining two motors with one planetary gear, in which one motor is for high speed and the other for high torque. In other words, it is able to realize a high speed at low torque, and high torque at low speed, as an automatic transmission operates in an automobile. The proposed actuator system is able to extend the speed/torque operation region. Finally, several experimental results are suggested to show a few advantages such as the extended speed/torque operation region and the enhanced energy efficiency.