An actuator comprising: a motor having a housing and a drive shaft, the motor arranged to rotate the drive shaft relative to the housing about a drive shaft axis; a first torque transfer device arranged to transfer torque from the drive shaft to a second shaft, the second shaft being rotatable about a second shaft axis parallel to and radially spaced from the drive shaft axis; and an output torque transfer device arranged to transfer torque from the second shaft to the housing of the motor; wherein, upon rotation of the drive shaft relative to the motor housing, the housing of the motor is arranged to rotate relative to the position of the second shaft axis.

A position detection sensor includes: a linear member; a conductive portion and an insulating portion provided in an outer periphery of the linear member and arranged side by side in a direction of an axis of the linear member; a support member having insulating properties and provided so as to be capable of being relatively advanced or retracted in the direction of the axis with respect to the conductive portion and the insulating portion; and a conductive contact member attached to the support member and configured such that a distal end of the contact member comes in contact with outer surfaces of the conductive portion and the insulating portion by a biasing force toward the outer surfaces of the conductive portion and the insulating portion.

A link position and attitude estimating unit 53 (54) of a controller 40 of a mobile robot 1 sequentially estimates the actual position and attitude of a first particular link 2 by using input parameters which at least include at least one of a desired attitude of an in-contact-with-ground link 13 and an observation value of the actual attitude of the first particular link 2, a desired position of the in-contact-with-ground link 13, and an observation value of the actual displacement amount of each joint. The driving force for each joint is adjusted by using the estimated values.

After a component picked up by a suction nozzle is moved in an XY direction towards target XY coordinates, a waveform of a vibration (vibration waveform) in the Y direction arising in the component after the component has arrived near the target XY coordinates is measured, and control is performed such that the component arrives at a target Z coordinate (value zero) when a displacement y of the component crosses a node of the measured vibration waveform.

A robotic torso sensing system and method includes: a robotic torso comprising a mobile torso, the robotic torso further comprising a fixed torso; a motor configured to move the mobile torso; a torso encoder configured to provide information to the motor; a master controller operably connected to the motor, the master controller configured to control the motor, the master controller operably connected to the torso encoder, the master controller further configured to control the mobile torso; and a sensor configured to measure a position of the mobile torso, the sensor further configured to transmit the measurement to the master controller.

Implementations disclosed describe an integrated sensor controller comprising a sensor circuit and a logic circuit. The sensor circuit includes a light source driver to generate a driving signal, a demultiplexer to produce, using the driving signal, a plurality of output driving signals to be delivered to one of a plurality of sensors, and an amplifier to: receive a first signal from a first sensor, the first signal being associated with a first event representative of a position of a substrate within a device manufacturing machine, and generate a second signal. The sensor circuit further includes an analog-to-digital converter to receive the second signal and generate a third signal. The logic circuit includes a memory device and a processing device coupled to the memory device, the processing device to obtain based on the third signal, information about the position of the substrate.

A joint includes: a motor coupled to the joint, the motor configured to move the joint; a joint side sensor configured to measure a parameter of interest of a joint side target; a motor side sensor configured to measure the parameter of interest of the motor; and a controller configured to control the motor, the controller operably connected to the joint side sensor, the controller operably connected to the motor side sensor.

A surgical system includes an external anchor, an internal anchor and an instrument. The external anchor is adapted to be positioned outside a body. The internal anchor is adapted to be inserted into the body via a single entrance port, positioned inside the body and magnetically coupled with the external anchor. The instrument is adapted to be inserted into the body via the single entrance port and secured to the internal anchor. The instrument includes an end-effector that has multiple degrees of movement via multiple axes.

A drive apparatus includes a motor having a drive part that rotates a first shaft member; a transmission part that transmits rotation of the first shaft member to a second shaft member which is different from the first shaft member; a first detection device provided at the first shaft member to detect information regarding rotation of the drive part; a second detection device provided at the second shaft member to detect information regarding rotation of the transmission part; and a prevention part that prevents movement of foreign substance toward a detection part which includes at least one of the first detection device and the second detection device.

A system includes an inspection robot having an input sensor comprising a laser profiler and a plurality of wheels structured to engage a curved portion of an inspection surface, wherein the laser profiler is configured to provide laser profiler data of the inspection surface; a controller, comprising: a profiler data circuit structured to interpret the laser profiler data; determine a feature of interest is present at a location of the inspection surface in response to the laser profiler data; and wherein the feature of interest comprises a shape description of the inspection surface at the location of the feature of interest.