Design of a piezoelectric meso-scale mobile robot: a compliant amplification approach

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, the development of a novel piezoelectric-based locomotion design for a meso-scale mobile robot is described. The design exploits a compliant mechan-ical structure that enables piezoelectric forces to be amplified and transmitted to “legs ” that propel the robot through a lift and pull scheme. The lift and pull design contrasts with typi-cal slip/stick approaches that assume the inertia effects of the robot will allow the robot to slip on a smooth surface. By elim-inating the slipping assumption, the potential surfaces that the proposed robot can traverse is significantly extended. Discus-sions are provided regarding the proposed locomotion method, kinematic modeling and system constraints, mechanical opti-mization, and control of the meso-scale robot. I.