摘要
Hardware neural networks controlled rotational actuators and application to an insect type micro robot are reported in this paper. Millimeter size rotational actuators are fabricated by combining MEMS （Micro Electro Mechanical System） technology and shape memory alloy based artificial muscle wires. The actuator is composed of a pair of disk rotators and each rotor is suspended by four artificial muscle wires that are connected to the silicon frame. The rotational motion is generated by flowing the electrical current to each wire successively. Two actuators of different sizes are fabricated. The large actuator shows the displacement of 0.5 mm at the cycle time of 4 s. The small actuator shows 0.3 mm at 2 s. For controlling the actuator, the hardware neural networks are used. The hardware neural networks are composed of electrical circuits imitating cell bodies, excitatory synapses and inhibitory synapses. Four signal ports are extracted from four pairs of excitatory and inhibitory neurons and they are connected to the actuator. The small actuator is applied to the robot and built in the mid body of the robot. The shaft of the actuator is connected to the link mechanisms that transform the rotational motion to the locomotion. The appearance dimensions of the robot are 4.0, 2.7, 2.5 mm width, length and height. The robot performs forward and backward foot step like insects. The speed is 26.4 mm·min^-1 and the stepping width is 0.88 mm. Also, the robot changes the direction by external trigger pulses.
