Development of two piezoelectrically actuated mesoscale robot quadrupeds

摘要

Abstract: The design of two piezoelectrically-actuated mesoscale robot quadrupeds is described. In each design, two piezoelectric actuators are used in conjunction with multi-degree of freedom articulated legs to create elliptical leg motions necessary for rough terrain capabilities. One design incorporates inertially-decoupled five-bar linkages for legs, while the other a two degree-of-freedom spatial linkage for each leg to achieve elliptical foot motion. The five-bar design has a footprint that measures 9 cm $MUL 6.5 cm and weighs 51 grams, and the spatial linkage design has a footprint of 9 cm $MUL 12 cm and weighs 29 grams. Data is presented for each design that characterizes nominal speed and typical power consumption. The ability to turn left or right is provided by shifting the input frequency to emphasize different dynamic modes in the robots.!3