ARRIpede: An Assembled Micro Crawler

Abstract

Recent advances in MEMS fabrication, hybrid microassembly and packaging are expediting micomanufacturing of "die-size" microrobots. The ARRIpede is a 1cm times 1cm walking microrobot whose anatomy includes silicon based electrothermal prismatic actuators, vertical legs assembled to the actuators via complaint joints and an electronic "backpack" to make it autonomous. The microrobot design specifications include a target volume of 1 cm times 1 cm times 0.5 cm, 3.8g mass and a crawling velocity of up to 3 mm/s on smooth surfaces. As proof of concept, the microrobot is configured as an inverted conveyer, and we demonstrate payload manipulation by means of stick-slip actuation, we evaluate the joint actuation force, the robot payload carrying capacity and power consumption. Experimental results confirm excellent steering ability, a measured linear velocity in excess of 1.55 mm/s, while consuming approximately 750 mW of power. For achieving lower speeds, of around 0.15 mm/s, the power consumption can be reduced to a few mW, thus enabling untethered operation using an on-board battery.