This article reports on the locomotion performance of a miniature robot that features 3D-printed rigid legs driven by linear traveling waves (TWs). The robot structure was a millimeter-sized rectangular glass plate with two piezoelectric patches attached, which allowed for traveling wave generation at a frequency between the resonant frequencies of two contiguous flexural modes. As a first goal, the location and size of the piezoelectric patches were calculated to maximize the structural displacement while preserving a standing wave ratio close to 1 (cancellation of wave reflections from the boundaries). The design guidelines were supported by an analytical 1D model of the structure and could be related to the second derivative of the modal shapes without the need to rely on more complex numerical simulations. Additionally, legs were bonded to the glass plate to facilitate the locomotion of the structure; these were fabricated using 3D stereolithography printing, with a range of lengths from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm. The optimal location of the legs was deduced from the profile of the traveling wave envelope. As a result of integrating both the optimal patch length and the legs, the speed of the robot reached as high as 100 mm/s, equivalent to 5 body lengths per second (BL/s), at a voltage of 65 V_pp and a frequency of 168 kHz. The blocking force was also measured and results showed the expected increase with the mass loading. Furthermore, the robot could carry a load that was 40 times its weight, opening the potential for an autonomous version with power and circuits on board for communication, control, sensing, or other applications.

中文翻译：

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基于行波产生的腿式双向微型压电机器人的运动


本文报道了微型机器人的运动性能，该机器人具有由线性行波 (TW) 驱动的 3D 打印刚性腿。机器人结构是一个毫米大小的矩形玻璃板，附有两个压电贴片，可以以两个连续弯曲模式的谐振频率之间的频率生成行波。第一个目标是计算压电贴片的位置和尺寸，以最大化结构位移，同时保持驻波比接近 1（消除边界的波反射）。设计指南由结构的一维分析模型支持，并且可以与模态形状的二阶导数相关，而无需依赖更复杂的数值模拟。此外，腿被粘合到玻璃板上以方便结构的移动；这些是使用 3D 立体光刻印刷制造的，长度范围从 0.5 毫米到 1.5 毫米。腿的最佳位置是根据行波包络线的轮廓推导出来的。通过整合最佳贴片长度和腿部，机器人的速度高达 100 mm/s，相当于每秒 5 个身体长度 (BL/s)，电压为 65 V _pp ，频率为168kHz。还测量了阻挡力，结果显示预期随着质量负载的增加。此外，该机器人可以承载 40 倍于其重量的负载，从而为具有用于通信、控制、传感或其他应用的电源和电路的自主版本开辟了潜力。