Study on Electrostatic Inchworm Motor Device for a Heterogeneous Integrated Microrobot System

Abstract

Ideal microrobots are on the millimeter-scale with integrated actuators, power sources, sensors, and controllers. Numerous researchers are inspired by insects for the mechanical or electrical design of microrobots. Previously, the authors proposed and demonstrated microrobots that can replicate the tripod gait locomotion of an ant, the legs of which were actuated by shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. The SMA provided a large deformation and force, but the power consumed by actuating a single leg reached as high as 94 mW. This paper discusses a silicon electrostatic inchworm motor chip to move a robot leg with low energy consumption using a small power source. The inchworm motor chip was actuated by electrostatic motors. The power consumption was as low as 1.0 mW, in contrast with SMA actuators. The reciprocal motion of the inchworm motor chip is powered by silicon photovoltaic cells. The results show that the 7.5 mm 2 photovoltaic cells could produce 60 V to actuate the inchworm motor chip, and the generated force is enough to move the leg of the microrobot. Thus, we demonstrated the actuation of a microrobot leg using an electrostatic inchworm motor chip, which is the first reported instance of an electrostatic motor driving an off-chip structure.

Automatic Holonomic Mobile Micromanipulator for Submillimeter Objects Inspired by the Rhinoceros Beetle

“…The miniaturization of insect-inspired biorobotic technology holds considerable promise for achieving insect-comparable efficiency, energy conservation, and collaborative operations. [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] Mobile manipulation also plays a crucial role in the context of flexible and self-reconfigurable robotic factories. [28][29][30][31] Precision stages have undergone extensive research to enhance positional accuracy.…”

Effect of Mechanical Loading and Increased Gap on the Dynamic Response of Multiple Degree of Freedom Electrostatic Actuator

“…Various designs of complex electrostatic actuators based on a gap-closing variable capacitor were developed as a linear inchworm motor [1][2][3][4]. However, the force actuation capability is still in mN range.…”

“…The device performed a stroke of 10 µm against 1.88 mN, when it was electrically polarized at 110 V. Higher load forces up to 3.7 mN could be measured, however snapping failure was observed. In [4] an optimized shuttle design compared to the one in [3] was realized. The new device could perform a 1 µm stroke against 1.3 mN, when it was electrically polarized at 60 V.…”