Identification of a Physics-Based Electrical Power Consumption Model for the Unitree G1 Humanoid Arm

Abstract

Accurate prediction of electrical power consumption is essential for energy-aware motion planning, battery management, and thermal monitoring in battery-powered humanoid robots. This letter presents a physics-based, linear-in-parameters model for the electrical power consumption of the seven-degree-of-freedom left arm of the Unitree~G1 humanoid robot. The proposed formulation combines actuator loss terms with a baseline-torque correction that captures changes in gravity-compensation load and enables accurate prediction of negative net power trajectories. Pairwise interaction terms are introduced to model power coupling during simultaneous multi-joint motion. Model parameters are identified from experimental data collected on a physical Unitree~G1 using onboard power measurements as the regression target. Across 897 trajectories covering single-joint and coordinated arm motions at multiple speed levels, the identified model achieves $R^2 = 0.933$ with an RMSE of 1.07 (W). Validation on 46 trajectories executed at previously unseen speeds yields $R^2 = 0.965$, demonstrating strong generalisation beyond the identification dataset. Analysis of the identified parameters reveals distinct power-consumption characteristics across the arm, with viscous friction dominating most joints (shoulder pitch and all three wrist joints), copper losses dominating shoulder yaw and the elbow, and shoulder roll uniquely dominated by Coulomb friction.