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Piezoelectric-driven miniature wheeled robot based on flexible transmission mechanisms

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Abstract

A 935 mg weight coin-size piezoelectric-driven wheeled robot with a flexible body-actuator-transmission integrated structure is presented in this paper. The robot is monolithic designed and fabricated via planar graphic manufacturing and lamination methods. The flexible four-bar mechanism and the flexible pawl-ratchet mechanism based on film hinge convert the slight vibration of the dual-drive PZT actuator into a unidirectional rotation of wheels, thereby achieving straight or curved motion. The stress and response of the flexible pawl-ratchet mechanism are analyzed by mechanical model and FEM simulation. We experimentally characterized the resonant characteristics of the actuator, measured the velocity of the miniature wheeled robot when it is on or off the ground. Experiments suggest that the prototype of the robot can achieve a linear speed for 330 mm/s, a turning radius for about 200 mm, and a climbing angle for 7.5°.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the Supporting Foundation of the Ministry of Education (6141A02022607), the New Century Excellent Talents Support Program from the Ministry of Education of China (NCET-10-0583), the Pre-research Fund (9140A26020 313JW03371, 9140A26020414JW03412) the Pre-research Project(LZY2016215, 010701) and Professional technical service platform of Shanghai (16DZ2290103).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Nano/Micro Fabrication Technology, Research Institute of Mico/Nano Science and Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, People’s Republic of China

    Sui Zhou, Weiping Zhang, Yang Zou, Bin Ou & Zhiyu Xun

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  1. Sui Zhou
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  2. Weiping Zhang
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  3. Yang Zou
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  4. Bin Ou
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  5. Zhiyu Xun
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Correspondence to Weiping Zhang.

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All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Zhou, S., Zhang, W., Zou, Y. et al. Piezoelectric-driven miniature wheeled robot based on flexible transmission mechanisms. Microsyst Technol 24, 943–950 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3424-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3424-7

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