Power Efficiency Estimation-Based Health Monitoring and Fault Detection of Modular and Reconfigurable Robot

The power efficiency degradation of machines often provides intrinsic indication of problems associated with their operation health conditions. Inspired by this observation, as presented in this paper, a simple yet effective power efficiency estimation-based health monitoring and fault detection technique is developed for a modular and reconfigurable robot (MRR) with a joint torque sensor. Power efficiency coefficients of each joint module are obtained using sensor measurements and used directly for health monitoring and fault detection. The proposed method has been experimentally tested on an MRR that has been developed in our laboratory for working in human environments, which critically demands for efficient health monitoring and fault detection capabilities. Experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method.