Motion mechanism and gait planning of a wheeled micro robot

Based on a novel shape memory alloy （SMA） actuator, a micro worming robot is presented. The robot adopts a wheeled moving mechanism. The principle of the robot＇s enlarged pace is introduced, and the structure and motion mechanism of the SMA actuator and the wheeled moving mechanism are discussed. The gait about the robot＇s rectilinear movement and turning movement is also planned. Under the effect of the eccentric wheel self-locking mechanisms and changing-direction mechanisms, the robot can move forward and backward, and turn actively, which overcomes the disadvantages of the traditional SMA micro robots to a certain extent. Furthermore, some experiments on the heating current of the SMA actuator and the robot＇s motion capability are carded out.

GIANT MAGNETOSTRICTIVE ACTUATOR IN SERVO VALVE AND MICRO PIPE ROBOT

Performance of giant magnetostrictive material (GMM) is introduced. Principleof work, basic structure and key techniques of giant magnetostrictive actuator (GMA) are analyzed.Its dynamic models of magneto-mechanical coupling are established. The structure and principle ofthe pneumatic servo valve and the micro pipe robot with new homemade GMM are presented. Theexperiment is carried out under typical working conditions. The experiment results show that the GMMpneumatic servo valve has wide pressure control characteristics, good linearity, and fast responsespeed. The movement principles of the GMM robot system are reliably feasible and its maximal movingspeed is about 8 mm/s. It is preferable to the driving frequency of the robot within 100 approx 300Hz.

Fast filtering algorithm based on vibration systems and neural information exchange and its application to micro motion robot

This paper develops a fast filtering algorithm based on vibration systems theory and neural information exchange approach. The characters, including the derivation process and parameter analysis, are discussed and the feasibility and the effectiveness are testified by the filtering performance compared with various filtering methods, such as the fast wavelet transform algorithm, the particle filtering method and our previously developed single degree of freedom vibration system filtering algorithm, according to simulation and practical approaches. Meanwhile, the comparisons indicate that a significant advantage of the proposed fast filtering algorithm is its extremely fast filtering speed with good filtering perfi^rmance. Further, the developed fast filtering algorithm is applied to the navigation and positioning system of the micro motion robot, which is a high real-time requirement for the signals preprocessing. Then, the preprocessing data is used to estimate the heading angle error and the attitude angle error of the micro motion robot. The estimation experiments illustrate the high practicality of the proposed fast filtering algorithm.

NEW KIND OF WIRELESS MICRO ROBOT ACTUATED AND CONTROLLED THROUGH OUTSIDE MAGNETIC FIELD

A new method to drive and control micro in-pipe robot by means of magneticfield outside pipe is put forward, in which wireless micro robot can move forward driven by thevibration of its legs through converting magnetic energy into mechanical one under the action ofpiezomagnetism and magnetomechanical coupling of its micro GMA, when time varied oscillatingmagnetic field with different frequency applied outside pipe. Firstly its systematical structure andoperation principle are introduced, and energy converting process from outside magnetic one intomechanical one is analyzed through setting up the magnetic and mechanical dynamic model of GMA andestablishing dynamic model of two stage amplifier of mobile earner. Robot systematical experimentsshow the correctness of the theoretical analysis and its feasibility. As a result, drive and controlmethod without cable through outside magnetic field is realized.

A Novel Bio-mimetic Wireless Micro Robot for Endoscope

A novel bio-mimetic wireless micro robot for endoscope is developed. Its autonomous manner is earthworm-like and driven by linear actuators based on DC motor. It is different from the conventional micro robot endoscope that wireless module is used for conanunicating and power transfer. The fabricated micro robot system is detailedly described, including structure, micro robot locomotion principle, communication control module and wireless power transfer module. The experimental results show that the driving force of the linear actuator can reach to 2. S5 N and supplying power is up to 480 mW DC power for receiving coil in the proposed system, which all fulfill the need of the micro robot system. The micro robot can creep reliably in the large intestine of pig and other contact environments.

ANALYZING ON THE VIBRATION CHARACTERISTICS OF A MICRO PIEZOELECTRIC ROBOT IN PIPELINE

The mathematical model of a micro piezoelectric elastic legged robot in pipeline was founded. The robotic resonant frequency worked out with the mathematical model is nearly equal to the frequency from experiment. It indicates that the mathematical model of the robot is correct. Besides, it studied the piezoelectric robotic structure parameters’ effect on the robotic performance. The result of the analysis on the robot constructs the base of an optimal design of a piezoelectric robot.

The Intellectualized Architecture of the Autonomous Micro- Mobile Robot Based- Behavior

Given the difficulty in hand coding task schemes, an intellectualized architecture of the autonomous micro mobile robot based behavior for fault repair was presented. Integrating the reinforcement learning and the group behavior evolution simulating the human's learning and evolution, the autonomous micro mobile robot will automatically generate the suited actions satisfied the environment. However, the designer only devises some basic behaviors, which decreases the workload of the designer and cognitive deficiency of the robot to the environment. The results of simulation have shown that the architecture endows micro robot with the ability of learning, adaptation and robustness, also with the ability of accomplishing the given task.

Building Integrated Mobile Robots for Soccer Competition

Robot soccer competition provides an excellent opportunity for robotics research. We have built a soccer robot system to participate in internal and oversea matches. Firstly, we propose a new learning control scheme adaptive PID learning controller. It means to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional PID type control methods. Secondly, we introduce our vision recognition algorithm. It remarkably increases the speed of recognition. Finally, we refer the communication system. We adopt bulletin board system to prevent communication confusion.

Earthworm-like micro robot based on electromagnetic driver

According to the principle of bionics, a prototype of the earthworm-like micro robot was developed and manufactured for entering the small tube. Based on the process of the action and mechanics analysis, the controller was designed. This micro robot with 6mm diameter was driven directly by three electromagnetic linear drivers. Mobile cells were joined with two degree-of-freedom joint and the whole body was flexible and soft. The driving force reached 10.8g in normal working condition. The direction of movement and the angle of imaging can be controlled by the shape memory alloy （SMA）. The driving force, velocity and movement of micro robot in flexural tube were tested through experiments, which indicated that the driving force was in proportion to the range of frequency, and the micro robot could current, and the velocity reached a maximum in certain move in the thin tube flexibly.

A Pipeline Inspection Micro Robot Based on Screw Motion Wheels

The micro robot based on screw motion wheels, which features high payload/mass ratio, fast and continuous motion, adaptation to pipe diameter or roundness variations, is suitable for locomotion and inspection inside small diameter pipelines. The robot inspection system, Tubot I, developed at Shanghai University is composed of locomotion mechanism with an inner motor, a micro CCD camera and a monitor outside the pipeline. In the paper, the kinematics and statics analyses are presented for the screw locomotion system of Tubot I. The moving characteristics are obtained from experiments on the robot prototype.

Hardware Neural Networks Controlled MEMS Rotational Actuators and Application to Micro Robot

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.

Review:Recent advances in nonlinear control technologies for shape memory alloy actuators

This paper reviews recent developments in nonlinear control technologies for shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators in robotics and their related applications. SMA possesses large hysteresis, low bandwidth, slow response, and non-linear behavior, which make them difficult to control. The fast response of the SMA actuator mostly depends upon, (1) type of controller, (2) rate of addition and removal of heat, and (3) shape or form of the actuator. Though linear controllers are more desirable than nonlinear ones, the review of literature shows that the results obtained using nonlinear controllers were far better than the former one. Therefore, more emphasis is made on the nonlinear control technologies taking into account the intelligent controllers. Various forms of SMA actuator along with different heating and cooling methods are presented in this review, followed by the nonlinear control methods and the control problems encountered by the researchers.

Principle and Experimental Verification of Flexible Caudal Fin Based on Active Torsion Propulsion Mode

The active torsion propulsion mode of a caudal fin,composed of macro fiber composites(MFC)and carbon fiber orthotropic composite material is proposed.The caudal fin is excited by the piezoelectric structure to vibrate flexibly.The work principle is firstly analyzed by finite element method(FEM)and experiments.Then the caudal fin is optimized to increase the torque and improve the streamline,and the added mass effect from the water is discussed in terms of the frequency of the structure.The torsion resonance frequency is around 103 Hz in the air and decreased by 75%to 25 Hz in the water.Finally,the mean thrust is discussed and measured to be 11 mN at900V(Peak to peak)driving voltage.A flexible micro robot is developed and tested.The locomotion velocity and flow velocity is 320mm/s and 268mm/s,respectively.The results of the simulation and experiments indicate that the locomotion of the biomimetic aquatic robot has fast movement characteristics.

A Sub-100 mg Electromagnetically Driven Insect-inspired Flapping-wing Micro Robot Capable of Liftoff and Control Torques Modulation

Inspired by the unique,agile and efficient flapping flight of insects,we present a novel sub-100 mg,electromagnetically driven,tailless,flapping-wing micro robot.This robot utilizes two optimized electromagnetic actuators placed back to back to drive two wings separately,then kinematics of each wing can be independently controlled,which gives the robot the ability to generate all three control torques of pitch,roll and yaw for steering.To quantify the performance of the robot,a simplified aerodynamic model is used to estimate the generated lift and torques,and two customized test platforms for lift and torque measurement are built for this robot.The mean lift generated by the robot is measured to be proportional to the square of the input voltage amplitude.The three control torques are measured to be respectively proportional to three decoupled parameters of the control voltages,therefore the modulation of three control torques for the robot is independent,which is helpful for the further controlled flight.All these measured results fit well with the calculated results of the aerodynamic model.Furthermore,with a total weight of 96 mg and a wingspan of 3.5 cm,this robot can generate sufficient lift to take off.

Clawed Miniature Inchworm Robot Driven by Electromagnetic Oscillatory Actuator

In this research we propose a novel inchworm robot, which is composed of an Electromagnetic Oscillatory Actuator （EOA） and claws. The EOA consists of a yoke, a magnet, and a coil. The overall robot size is 12.2 mm x 11 mm x 9 mm （length x height ~ width）. The locomotion of the robot is achieved by different amounts of slips when the robot stretches and contracts its front leg. To realize locomotion, the working conditions were calculated theoretically and the calculated input signal was applied to the robot. The performance of the inchworm robot was evaluated experimentally with varying input voltages and frequencies. A simple op-amps based driving circuit was used to provide a square-wave input. Travel speed, average distance per step of the robot, and moving distance of the leg and body at each step were measured. The maximum travel speed was 36 mm-s-1 at 30 Hz, which validates our simple locomotion strategy experimentally.

Miniaturized Twin-legged Robot with an Electromagnetic Oscillatory Actuator

There have been many studies on the moving mechanism of micro robots, such as stick-slip, inchworm like motion, and impact drive. Novel actuators like lead zirconate titanate （PZT）, Shape Memory Alloy （SMA）, magnetostrictive materials, electromagnetic actuators, electoractive polymers, ultrasonic linear motors, and dielectric elastomers are utilized to realize the moving mechanism. The use of a conventional electromagnetic actuator is unfavorable, because of a few drawbacks, such as generation of stray magnetic fields, hard to miniaturize to the millimeter scale because of 3D integration and a scaling law, and power consumption to maintain a certain position. This research presents a micro robot that uses an electromagnetic actuator customized and developed for micro robot. The electromagnetic actuator is designed from a Brushless Direct Current （BLDC） motor to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above. The developed robot is composed of two electromagnetic actuators. The overall size of the robot is 20 mm × 11 mm× 9 mm （length × height × width） and the weight is 3 g. The developed robot is able to move bidirectionally with a maximum moving speed of 15.76 mm·s︿-1 （0.79 body-length per second）. The optimal conditions of an input signal are calculated theoretically and verified with experiments.

Software for Small-scale Robotics: A Review

In recent years, a large number of relatively advanced and often ready-to-use robotic hardware components and systems have been developed for small-scale use. As these tools are mature, there is now a shift towards advanced applications. These often require automation and demand reliability, efficiency and decisional autonomy. New software tools and algorithms for artificial intelligence（AI） and machine learning（ML） can help here. However, since there are many software-based control approaches for small-scale robotics, it is rather unclear how these can be integrated and which approach may be used as a starting point. Therefore, this paper attempts to shed light on existing approaches with their advantages and disadvantages compared to established requirements. For this purpose, a survey was conducted in the target group. The software categories presented include vendor-provided software, robotic software frameworks（RSF）, scientific software and in-house developed software（IHDS）. Typical representatives for each category are described in detail, including Smar Act precision tool commander, Math Works Matlab and national instruments Lab VIEW, as well as the robot operating system（ROS）. The identified software categories and their representatives are rated for end user satisfaction based on functional and non-functional requirements, recommendations and learning curves. The paper concludes with a recommendation of ROS as a basis for future work.