An Untethered Crawling and Jumping Micro-Robot

Abstract

This paper presents an untethered crawling and jumping micro robot via the frequency of the external alternating magnetic field. The prototype micro robot is 8 mm-long made of soft polymeric materials by a 3D printing process. Two permanent magnets are added to be excited by the low-frequency alternative magnetic field source for the crawling operation. A shape memory alloy (SMA) actuator and an aluminum foil to efficiently stimulate induction heating are utilized under the high-frequency alternative magnetic field for the jumping motion. Under a low driving frequency of 60–90 Hz, the prototype robot can crawl with a speed of 5 body length per second via the induced magnetic force. Under a high driving frequency of 30–40 kHz, induction heating is generated to activate the SMA actuator for the jumping action of up to 30 times of the body height of the robot. By exploring other structural designs and manipulation patterns, various forms of robotic actions and locomotion could be realized to execute complex tasks.