US-12623362-B1 - Robot joint with wire routing for enhanced durability and related technology

Abstract

A robot in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present technology includes a leg assembly. The leg assembly defines a kinematic chain and includes a joint, a proximal link proximal to the joint along the kinematic chain, and a distal link distal to the joint along the kinematic chain. The joint is configured to allow for relative rotation between the proximal and distal links about a joint axis. The leg assembly also includes wiring extending between the proximal and distal links. The wiring includes slack and defines a wiring length and a rotational orientation perpendicular to the wiring length. The leg assembly further includes proximal and distal retainers carried by the proximal and distal links, respectively. The proximal and distal retainers are resilient and configured to register rotational orientations of the wiring at proximal and distal end portions, respectively, of the slack.

Inventors

• Elise Fermier
• Mark Sprenger
• DYLAN THRUSH

Assignees

• AGILITY ROBOTICS, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20240829

Claims (18)

1. 1 . A method comprising: causing, via a joint of a robot, relative rotation between a proximal link of the robot and a distal link of the robot, wherein the robot defines a kinematic chain including the joint, wherein the proximal link is proximal to the joint along the kinematic chain, wherein the distal link is distal to the joint along the kinematic chain, wherein the robot includes a connector at the joint, wherein the connector defines a bore, wherein the joint axis extends through the bore, and wherein the wiring extends through the bore; flowing electricity between the proximal and distal links via wiring of the robot, wherein the wiring includes slack operably associated with the joint, and wherein the wiring defines a wiring length and a rotational orientation perpendicular to the wiring length; resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at a proximal end portion of the slack while causing the relative rotation; and resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at a distal end portion of the slack while causing the relative rotation.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at the proximal end portion of the slack includes resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at the proximal end portion of the slack via a proximal retainer of the robot carried by the proximal link; and resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at the distal end portion of the slack includes resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at the distal end portion of the slack via a distal retainer of the robot carried by the distal link.
3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising: restricting rotation of the proximal retainer relative to the proximal link via complementary proximal interlocking features of the proximal retainer and the proximal link while resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at the proximal end portion of the slack; and restricting rotation of the distal retainer relative to the distal link via complementary distal interlocking features of the distal retainer and the distal link while resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at the distal end portion of the slack.
4. 4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising: resiliently spacing apart wiring constituents of the wiring at the proximal end portion of the slack via a resilient proximal spacer of the proximal retainer; and resiliently spacing apart wiring constituents of the wiring at the distal end portion of the slack via a resilient distal spacer of the distal retainer.
5. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein: the wiring includes wires; the proximal retainer defines a plurality of proximal channels; resiliently spacing apart the wires at the proximal end portion of the slack includes resiliently retaining the wires at different respective proximal channels of the plurality of proximal channels while the resilient proximal spacer extends between the different respective proximal channels of the plurality of proximal channels; the distal retainer defines a plurality of distal channels; and resiliently spacing apart the wires at the distal end portion of the slack includes resiliently retaining the wires at different respective distal channels of the plurality of distal channels while the resilient distal spacer extends between the different respective distal channels of the plurality of distal channels.
6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein: the wires include a ribbon cable; resiliently retaining the wires includes resiliently retaining the ribbon cable at one of the proximal channels having an elongate cross-sectional area in a dimension perpendicular to the wiring length at the proximal end portion of the slack; and resiliently retaining the wires further includes resiliently retaining the ribbon cable at one of the distal channels having an elongate cross-sectional area in a dimension perpendicular to the wiring length at the distal end portion of the slack.
7. 7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein: the ribbon cable is a first ribbon cable; the wires include a second ribbon cable; the one of the proximal channels is a first one of the proximal channels; the one of the distal channels is a first one of the distal channels; resiliently retaining the wires includes resiliently retaining the second ribbon cable at a second one of the proximal channels having an elongate cross-sectional area in a dimension perpendicular to the wiring length at the proximal end portion of the slack; and resiliently retaining the wires further includes resiliently retaining the second ribbon cable at a second one of the distal channels having an elongate cross-sectional area in a dimension perpendicular to the wiring length at the distal end portion of the slack.
8. 8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein: resiliently retaining the wires includes resiliently retaining a given one of the wires at one of the proximal channels having a polygonal cross-sectional perimeter in a plane perpendicular to the wiring length at the proximal end portion of the slack; and resiliently retaining the wires further includes resiliently retaining the given one of the wires at one of the distal channels having a polygonal cross-sectional perimeter in a plane perpendicular to the wiring length at the distal end portion of the slack.
9. 9 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising: carrying the proximal retainer at a recess of the proximal link while resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at the proximal end portion of the slack; and carrying the distal retainer at a recess of the distal link while resiliently retaining the rotational orientation of the wiring at the distal end portion of the slack.
10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the wiring has a first rotational orientation perpendicular to the wiring length at the proximal end portion of the slack; the wiring has a second rotational orientation perpendicular to the wiring length at the distal end portion of the slack; and the method further comprises causing the first and second rotational orientations to differ by 180 degrees while causing the relative rotation.
11. 11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein: causing the relative rotation includes causing the relative rotation within a range extending from a minimum angle between the proximal and distal links to a maximum angle between the proximal and distal links; and causing the first and second rotational orientations to differ by 180 degrees includes causing the first and second rotational orientations to differ by 180 degrees when the relative rotation is at an intermediate angle between the minimum angle and a midpoint of the range.
12. 12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the joint is at a leg of the robot; and causing the relative rotation includes causing the relative rotation while the robot ambulates via the leg.
13. 13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: causing the relative rotation includes causing the relative rotation within a range extending from a minimum angle between the proximal and distal links to a maximum angle between the proximal and distal links; and the method further comprises causing the slack to have a minimum torsional stress perpendicular to the wiring length when the relative rotation is at an intermediate angle between the minimum angle and a midpoint of the range.
14. 14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: causing the relative rotation includes causing the relative rotation about a joint axis; and flowing the electricity includes flowing the electricity while the wiring length is within 10 degrees of parallel to the joint axis at the distal end portion of the slack.
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein flowing the electricity includes flowing the electricity while the wiring length is within 10 degrees of parallel to the joint axis at the proximal end portion of the slack.
16. 16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein flowing the electricity includes flowing the electricity while the slack bows laterally away from the joint.
17. 17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein flowing the electricity includes flowing the electricity via the wiring at the bore.
18. 18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein: the proximal link includes a shell that defines an elongate cavity; and causing the relative rotation includes causing the relative rotation while the slack is within the cavity.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/677,217, filed Jul. 30, 2024. The foregoing application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. To the extent the foregoing application or any other material incorporated by reference conflicts with the present disclosure, the present disclosure controls. TECHNICAL FIELD The present technology relates to wiring in robots. BACKGROUND Much of the work that humans currently perform is amenable to automation using robotics. For example, large numbers of human workers currently focus on executing actions that require little or no reasoning, such as predefined relocations of items and containers at order-fulfillment centers. Such actions may occur millions of times a day at a single order-fulfillment center and billions of times a day across a network of order-fulfillment centers. Human effort would be better applied to more complex tasks, particularly those involving creativity, advanced problem solving, and social interaction. Presently, however, the need for order-fulfillment centers is large and rapidly increasing. Some analysts forecast a shortage of a million or more workers to staff order-fulfillment centers within the next ten to fifteen years. Due to the importance of this field, even small improvements in efficiency can have major impacts on macroeconomic productivity. For at least these reasons, there is a significant and growing need for innovation that supports automating tasks that humans currently perform at order-fulfillment centers and elsewhere. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Certain aspects of the present technology can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The relative dimensions in the drawings may be to scale with respect to some embodiments of the present technology. With respect to other embodiments, the drawings may not be to scale. The drawings may also be enlarged arbitrarily. For clarity, reference-number labels for analogous components or features may be omitted when the appropriate reference-number labels for such analogous components or features are clear in the context of the specification and all of the drawings considered together. Furthermore, the same reference numbers may be used to identify analogous components or features in multiple described embodiments. FIG. 1 is a side profile view of a robot leg assembly in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present technology. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged, exploded view of a portion of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a further exploded view corresponding to FIG. 3 with wiring omitted. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a wiring assembly of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a side profile view of a proximal retainer of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1. FIGS. 7 and 8 are different respective perspective views of the proximal retainer of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a portion of a main housing of a proximal link of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a cap of a connector of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1. FIG. 11 is a side profile view of the proximal retainer and a distal retainer of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1 when the proximal link and a distal link of the robot leg assembly are at different relative angles. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another wiring assembly of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1. FIGS. 13 and 14 are a side profile view and a perspective view, respectively, of another proximal retainer of the robot leg assembly of FIG. 1. FIGS. 15 and 16 are a side profile view and a perspective view, respectively, of yet another proximal retainer of a robot leg assembly in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present technology. FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a mobile robot in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present technology. FIG. 18 is a block diagram corresponding to a method in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present technology. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Robots typically include wiring for power distribution and communication. For example, wires may electrically connect a centrally located battery to peripherally located actuators. As another example, wires may convey data from peripherally located sensors to centrally located processing circuitry. Complex mobile robots can include dozens of individual electrical components with separate power and communication requirements. In these and other cases, wire routing can be a significant design consideration. Furthermore, wiring that connects components that experience relative movement (e.g., wiring that extends along the length of an articulated arm or leg) may affect robot durability. Some mobile robots, especially those used in industrial and logistics applications, would benefit from extremely high durability. For example, a join