A similarity method for miniature mobile robots

Abstract

Taking advantage of a piezoelectric material to fabricate miniature mobile robots, this study presents a similarity method, fabrication process, and walking experiment method. A curved piezoelectric material is first analyzed for vibration behavior in order to provide a basis for deriving model laws. Since the behavior of miniature mobile robots is nor amenable to modeling, the similarity method is carried out to obtain model laws. A prototype for the miniature robot is further scaled down in different geometric sizes to conduct walking experiments. Experimental results that are primarily concerned with walking speeds comparison among robots of different sizes serve to verify model laws.