Bulk Metallic Glass Gears for NASA JPL Robotics Applications

Douglas Hofmann, Ph.D.
Technologist
Materials Development and Manufacturing Technology Group
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Visiting Associate and Lecturer
California Institute of Technology

The  development  of  gears  for  high-performance  robotics,  both  terrestrial  and planetary, has long been driven by design, the performance of lubricated steel gears, and  the  precise  manufacturing  of  the  gear  components.  Complex  gear  designs required in many robotics applications make up the majority cost of the robot, owing to  the  intricate  manufacturing  of  steel.  For  space  applications,  the  problem  is compounded  by  extremely  low  temperatures,  which  preclude  most  lubricants. NASA JPL has been developing a unique class of BMG gearboxes for robotics using cutting edge technology for both the alloys and the manufacturing. This talk focuses on the need for low-cost, high-performance gearboxes and will give a status report
of the research, including prototyping, alloy development, and testing. We show that BMGs  not  only  have  the  potential  for  use  as  unlubricated  gearboxes  for  space applications, but also as a revolutionary material for decreasing the manufacturing cost of all humanoid robotics. The talk will also detail the ongoing metallurgy work at NASA JPL, including a large effort in metal additive manufacturing.

Dr. Douglas Hofmann is a Technologist and founding  member of the Materials Development and Manufacturing Technology Group at JPL. He is also a Visiting Associate and Lecturer in Materials Science and Applied Physics at Caltech. He has a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. San Diego and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science from Caltech. Prior to joining JPL, he was a Research and Development Scientist at Liquidmetal Technologies. Dr. Hofmann has received many  awards  for  his  research,  most  notably  the  2012  Presidential  Early  Career Award  for  Scientists  and  Engineers  from  President  Obama  for  his  work  in  the development of metallic glass metal matrix composites.