A variety of microrobots have commonly been used in the fields of biomedical engineering and underwater operations during the last few years. Thanks to their compact structure, low driving power, and simple control systems, microrobots can complete a variety of underwater tasks, even in limited spaces. To accomplish our objectives, we previously designed several bio-inspired underwater microrobots with compact structure, flexibility, and multi-functionality, using ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuators. To implement high-position precision for IPMC legs, in the present research, we proposed an electromechanical model of an IPMC actuator and analysed the deformation and actuating force of an equivalent IPMC cantilever beam, which could be used to design biomimetic legs, fingers, or fins for an underwater microrobot. We then evaluated the tip displacement of an IPMC actuator experimentally. The experimental deflections fit the theoretical values very well when the driving frequency was larger than 1 Hz. To realise the necessary multi-functionality for adapting to complex underwater environments, we introduced a walking biomimetic microrobot with two kinds of motion attitudes: a lying state and a standing state. The microrobot uses eleven IPMC actuators to move and two shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators to change its motion attitude. In the lying state, the microrobot implements stick-insect-inspired walking/rotating motion, fish-like swimming motion, horizontal grasping motion, and floating motion. In the standing state, it implements inchworm-inspired crawling motion in two horizontal directions and grasping motion in the vertical direction. We constructed a prototype of this biomimetic microrobot and evaluated its walking, rotating, and floating speeds experimentally. The experimental results indicated that the robot could attain a maximum walking speed of 3.6 mm/s, a maximum rotational speed of 9°/s, and a maximum floating speed of 7.14 mm/s. Obstacle-avoidance and swimming experiments were also carried out to demonstrate its multi-functionality.
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机译：在最近几年中，各种微型机器人已广泛用于生物医学工程和水下操作领域。由于其紧凑的结构，低的驱动功率和简单的控制系统，即使在有限的空间内，微型机器人也可以完成各种水下任务。为了实现我们的目标，我们之前使用离子聚合物金属复合材料（IPMC）执行器设计了几款具有结构紧凑，灵活性和多功能性的生物启发式水下微型机器人。为了实现IPMC腿的高精度定位，在本研究中，我们提出了IPMC促动器的机电模型，并分析了等效IPMC悬臂梁的变形和促动力，可用于设计仿生腿，手指或手指。水下微型机器人的鳍。然后，我们通过实验评估了IPMC执行器的尖端位移。当驱动频率大于1 Hz时，实验挠度非常适合理论值。为了实现适应复杂水下环境所必需的多功能性，我们推出了一种具有两种运动姿势的行走仿生微型机器人：躺着状态和站立状态。微型机器人使用11个IPMC执行器进行移动，并使用两个形状记忆合金（SMA）执行器来更改其运动姿态。在躺着状态下，微型机器人实现了受昆虫启发的行走/旋转运动，鱼形游泳运动，水平抓握运动和漂浮运动。在站立状态下，它会在两个水平方向上执行由蠕虫启发的爬行运动，并在垂直方向上实现抓握运动。我们构建了这种仿生微型机器人的原型，并通过实验评估了其步行，旋转和漂浮速度。实验结果表明，该机器人的最大行走速度为3.6 mm / s，最大旋转速度为9°/ s，最大漂浮速度为7.14 mm / s。还进行了避障和游泳实验，以证明其多功能性。
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