An Insect-scale Self-sufficient Rolling Microrobot
This work addresses the problem of developing autonomous microrobots for potential applications in fields like surveillance or environmental monitoring, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing microrobot designs with specific improvements in size and power.
The researchers tackled the challenge of creating a lightweight, self-sufficient rolling microrobot, resulting in a device measuring 18mm x 8mm x 8mm that moves at 27mm/s (1.5 body lengths per second) with an average power consumption of 2.5mW, and a supercapacitor-powered version can roll freely for 8 seconds after a single charge.
We design an insect-sized rolling microrobot driven by continuously rotating wheels. It measures 18mm$\times$8mm$\times$8mm. There are 2 versions of the robot - a 96mg laser-powered one and a 130mg supercapacitor powered one. The robot can move at 27mm/s (1.5 body lengths per second) with wheels rotating at 300$^\circ$/s, while consuming an average power of 2.5mW. Neither version has any electrical wires coming out of it, with the supercapacitor powered robot also being self-sufficient and is able to roll freely for 8 seconds after a single charge. Low-voltage electromagnetic actuators (1V-3V) along with a novel double-ratcheting mechanism enable the operation of this device. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the lightest and fastest self-sufficient rolling microrobot reported yet.