Locomotion Principles for Microrobots Based on Vibrations

Abstract

Microrobotics is a growing field with great advances in recent years. New applications in the fields of medicine, biology, manufacturing and maintenance technologies are developed. They require mobile systems with enhanced motion abilities. The present paper concerns principles of terrestrial locomotion for vibration-driven microrobots. Such systems are characterized by an internal periodic excitation, which is transformed to a directed motion due to asymmetric system properties. An extensive overview on the state of the art shows the great potential of the vibration-driven locomotion for miniaturized applications in technics. To perform a controllable two-dimensional locomotion with only one actuator, it is needed to overcome limits of rigid body systems. The proposed approach uses the frequency-dependent vibration behavior of elastic systems, like beams and plates. Experimental investigations are supported by finite element method. It is shown that the two-dimensional locomotion on a flat and solid ground can be controlled by only one actuator using the resonance characteristics of elastic systems.