A jumping robotic insect based on a torque reversal catapult mechanism

Abstract

The design and the fabrication of a mesoscale jumping robotic insect are presented. The basis of the robot is a torque reversal catapult mechanism, inspired by a flea's jumping leg. The current robot structure is 20mm in length, 2mm in height and weighs 34mg. The smart composite microstructures (SCM) process is used to developing the mesoscale structures and articulated, flexure-based mechanisms of the leg. Furthermore, the design is compatible with the pop-up book MEMS process, ameliorating the laborious assembly process of small components. The robot prototype can achieve jumps of approximately 30cm with a 2.7m/s initial velocity. It is 150 times its body height. The effect of air resistance is considered in order to improve jumping performance with the light weight body structure. The air resistance efficiency (Jumping height in air (h <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">v</sub> ) / Jumping height in vacuum (h <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">v</sub> )) is computed to be 0.83 and the robot exhibits a drag coefficient of 1.8.