An Insect-Scale Self-Sufficient Rolling Microrobot

Abstract

We design an insect-sized rolling microrobot driven by continuously rotating wheels. It measures 18 mm × 8 mm × 8 mm. There are 2 versions of the robot - a 96 mg laser-powered one and a 130 mg supercapacitor powered one. The robot can move at 27 mm/s (1.5 body lengths per second) with wheels rotating at 300°/s, while consuming an average power of 2.5 mW. Neither version has any electrical wires coming out of it, with the supercapacitor powered robot also being self-sufficient and is able to roll freely for 8 seconds after a single charge. Low-voltage electromagnetic actuators (1V-3 V) along with a novel double-ratcheting mechanism enable the operation of this device. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the lightest and fastest self-sufficient rolling microrobot reported yet.