A Miniature Mobile Robot Using Piezo Vibration for Mobility in a Thin Tube

Abstract

This paper proposes a miniature mobile robot that uses piezo vibration to move within a thin tube. The robot consists of a piezo bimorph with elastic fins attached at an angle. Robot movement is driven by differences in the friction of the fin’s against the tube wall between the forward and backward fin movements induced by piezo vibration. After analyzing the dynamics of the piezo elements, we analyzed the robot’s mobile mechanism by extending Hamilton’s principle using the dynamic results of the piezo vibration analysis. Measurements of both mobile velocity and tractive force of an experimental robot agree closely with theoretical results. This indicates that the proposed dynamic mobile mechanism accurately expresses robot motion within a thin tube.