Flea-Inspired Catapult Mechanism for Miniature Jumping Robots

Fleas can jump more than 200 times their body length. They do so by employing a unique catapult mechanism: storing a large amount of elastic energy and releasing it quickly by torque reversal triggering. This paper presents a flea-inspired catapult mechanism for miniature jumping robots. A robotic d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on robotics 2012-10, Vol.28 (5), p.1007-1018
Main Authors: Noh, Minkyun, Kim, Seung-Won, An, Sungmin, Koh, Je-Sung, Cho, Kyu-Jin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Actuators
Applied sciences
Biologically inspired robot
biomimetics
catapult mechanism
Coils
Computer science
control theory
systems
Control theory. Systems
DC motors
Design engineering
Drives
Exact sciences and technology
flea robot
jumping robot
Kinematics
Linkage mechanisms, cams
Mechanical engineering. Machine design
microrobot
Microstructure
Muscles
Precision engineering, watch making
Prototypes
Robotics
Robots
shape memory alloy (SMA) spring
smart composite microstructure (SCM)
Springs
Torque
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Summary:Fleas can jump more than 200 times their body length. They do so by employing a unique catapult mechanism: storing a large amount of elastic energy and releasing it quickly by torque reversal triggering. This paper presents a flea-inspired catapult mechanism for miniature jumping robots. A robotic design was created to realize the mechanism for the biological catapult with shape memory alloy (SMA) spring actuators and a smart composite microstructure. SMA spring actuators replace conventional actuators, transmissions, and the elastic element to reduce the size. The body uses a four-bar mechanism that simulates a flea's leg kinematics with reduced degrees of freedom. Dynamic modeling was derived, and theoretical jumping was simulated to optimize the leg design for increased takeoff speed. A robotic prototype was fabricated with 1.1-g weight and 2-cm body size that can jump a distance of up to 30 times its body size.
ISSN:1552-3098
1941-0468
DOI:10.1109/TRO.2012.2198510