G1 shows a “High Temperature” warning quickly when using the Gear-Sonic controller, even while standing still

[Jun-young2eyo]

I am using a Unitree G1 and have noticed a significant difference in motor temperature behavior depending on the controller.

When I operate the robot using the default manual controller, the “High Temperature” warning rarely appears. However, when I control the same robot using the Gear-Sonic controller, the warning appears after a relatively short time, even when the robot is simply standing still without performing any motions.

I have heard that other users may have experienced a similar issue.

Observed behavior

• Default/manual controller: The robot can stand or operate for a long time without a high-temperature warning.
• Gear-Sonic controller: The motor temperature rises quickly, and a high-temperature warning appears even while the robot is standing still.
• The same robot and hardware configuration are used in both cases.

Questions

1. What could cause this difference between the default controller and the Gear-Sonic controller?
2. Does Gear-Sonic use different joint stiffness, damping, PD gains, target poses, or feedforward torque values from the default controller?
3. Is it possible that the controller continuously generates excessive holding torque because of:
   • an unsuitable standing posture,
   • incorrect joint offsets,
   • overly high stiffness gains,
   • oscillation around the target position,
   • or conflicts with the low-level controller?
4. Are there any recommended gain settings or standing configurations for preventing motor overheating?
5. Which logs or parameters should I check to diagnose this issue?
6. Is this a known issue, and are there any existing fixes or recommended patches?

Any advice on how to identify the source of the additional motor load would be greatly appreciated.

[sitdownkevin]

same problem

[PhysicistJohn]

+1 Same issue - isolated to SONIC controller