STRIDE: A Highly Maneuverable and Non-Tethered Water Strider Robot

Song, Yun Seong; Sitti, Metin

doi:10.1109/robot.2007.363112

Cited by 43 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…1, the ten supporting legs are fixed on the body horizontally and in line with an assigned center distance of about 10 mm on average. This supporting mechanism has been used for several water strider robots to provide a large surface tension force upward in a confined space [5], [15], [17]. Previous studies showed that decreasing the leg center distance will decrease the maximum lift force [13].…”

Section: A Supporting Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

A miniature surface tension-driven robot mimicking the water-surface locomotion of water strider

Zhang

Yan

Zhao

et al. 2015

2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

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Aiming at mimicking water strider's water-surface locomotion, this study proposes a new miniature surface tension-driven robot. A key feature of this robot is that its actuating legs possess ellipse-like spatial trajectories like water strider by using a cam-link mechanism, and never pierces water surface when rowing. A set of simple models and equations are proposed to analyze the interaction forces between leg and water as well as the critical condition for a leg penetrating a water surface. The final fabricated robot weights about 3.9 g with a load capacity of 5.6 g. By controlling the motions of actuating legs, the robot can freely and stably walk on water with different gaits. The maximum forward and turning speeds of the robot are measured as 16 cm/s and 23 °/s, respectively. Moreover, a similarity analysis with Bond Number and Weber Number reveals that the locomotion of this robot is quite analogous to that of a water strider: surface tension force dominates the lifting force and plays a major role in the propulsion.

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Section: A Supporting Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

A miniature surface tension-driven robot mimicking the water-surface locomotion of water strider

Zhang

Yan

Zhao

et al. 2015

2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

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“…In the case of water strider robots, when we consider that the value of surface tension force is proportional to the length of the three phase contact line, increasing the overall length of the supporting legs is an effective approach for improving load capacity. Given limited overall size, a multi-leg mechanism composed of several cylinders fixed horizontally and in line with an assigned center distance (Figure 4(a)), is widely used in the design of water strider robots, including such as STIDER, 6 Water dancer II, 10 and Screw-type water strider robot 11 ). Sitti et al 5 previously claimed the distance between the neighboring legs of water strider robots should be large enough to maximize the lift force, which is inconsistent with the above conclusion that cylinders with a larger center distance will have a smaller load capacity.…”

Section: A Cylinder Center Distancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The robots, whose legs consist of spindly cylinders decorated with hydrophobic materials, are based on the fundamental principles of the water strider's ability to float and move on the water surface. 1,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11] It is of interest to consider how great a load these cylindrical legs can support on a water surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vertical force acting on partly submerged spindly cylinders

et al. 2014

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When an object is placed on a water surface, the air-water interface deforms and a meniscus arises due to surface tension effects, which in turn produces a lift force or drag force on the partly submerged object. This study aims to investigate the underlying mechanism of the vertical force acting on spindly cylinders in contact with a water surface. A simplified 2-D model is presented, and the profile of the curved air-water interface and the vertical force are computed using a numerical method. A parametric study is performed to determine the effects of the cylinder center distance, inclined angle, static contact angle, and radius on the vertical force. Several key conclusions are derived from the study: (1) Although the lift force increases with the cylinder center distance, cylinders with smaller center distances can penetrate deeper below the water surface before sinking, thereby obtaining a larger maximum lift force; (2) An increase in the inclined angle reduces the lift force, which can enable the lower cylinders fall more deeply before sinking; (3) While the effect of static contact angle is limited for angles greater than 90°, hydrophobicity allows cylinders to obtain a larger lift force and load capacity on water; (4) The lift force increases rapidly with cylinder radius, but an increase in radius also increases the overall size and weight of cylinders and decreases the proportion of the surface tension force. These findings may prove helpful in the design of supporting legs of biologically-inspired miniature aquatic devices, such as water strider robots.

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“…This robot has concentric circular footpads that are designed, analysed and manufactured using laser-cutting to generate more lift force per unit area and greater stability when compared to STRIDE [19]. Moreover, the drag force model of the supporting structure and the propulsion mechanism are investigated and explained in detail.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

STRIDE II: A Water Strider-inspired Miniature Robot with Circular Footpads

Özcan

Wang

Taylor

et al. 2014

International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

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Water strider insects have attracted the attention of many researchers due to their power-efficient and agile water surface locomotion. This study proposes a new water strider insect-inspired robot, called STRIDE II, which uses new circular footpads for high lift, stability and payload capability, and a new elliptical leg rotation mechanism for more efficient water surface propulsion. Using the advantage of scaling effects on surface tension versus buoyancy, similar to water strider insects, this robot uses the repulsive surface tension force on its footpads as the dominant lift principle instead of creating buoyancy by using very skinny (1 mm diameter) circular footpads coated with a superhydrophobic material. The robot and the insect propel quickly and power efficiently on the water surface by the sculling motion of their two side-legs, which never break the water surface completely. This paper proposes models for the lift, drag and propulsion forces and the energy efficiency of the proposed legged robot, and experiments are conducted to verify these models. After optimizing the robot design using the lift models, a maximum lift capacity of 55 grams is achieved using 12 footpads with a 4.2 cm outer diameter, while the robot itself weighs 21.75 grams. For this robot, a propulsion efficiency of 22.3% was measured. The maximum forward and turning speeds of the robot were measured as 71.5 mm/sec and 0.21 rad/sec, respectively. These water strider robots could be used in water surface monitoring, cleaning and analysis in lakes, dams, rivers and the sea.

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STRIDE: A Highly Maneuverable and Non-Tethered Water Strider Robot

Cited by 43 publications

References 15 publications

A miniature surface tension-driven robot mimicking the water-surface locomotion of water strider

A miniature surface tension-driven robot mimicking the water-surface locomotion of water strider

Vertical force acting on partly submerged spindly cylinders

STRIDE II: A Water Strider-inspired Miniature Robot with Circular Footpads

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