Scaling down an insect-size microrobot, HAMR-VI into HAMR-Jr
This work advances microrobotics by enabling more dexterous and faster small-scale robots, though it is incremental as it builds on existing scaling principles.
The researchers tackled the challenge of scaling down a microrobot, presenting HAMR-Jr as a 22.5 mm, 320 mg quadruped capable of high-speed locomotion at 13.91 body lengths per second using multiple gaits. They demonstrated the effectiveness of scaling laws by comparing it with a larger version, HAMR-VI.
Here we present HAMR-Jr, a \SI{22.5}{\milli\meter}, \SI{320}{\milli\gram} quadrupedal microrobot. With eight independently actuated degrees of freedom, HAMR-Jr is, to our knowledge, the most mechanically dexterous legged robot at its scale and is capable of high-speed locomotion (\SI{13.91}{bodylengths~\second^{-1}}) at a variety of stride frequencies (\SI{1}{}-\SI{200}{\hertz}) using multiple gaits. We achieved this using a design and fabrication process that is flexible, allowing scaling with minimum changes to our workflow. We further characterized HAMR-Jr's open-loop locomotion and compared it with the larger scale HAMR-VI microrobot to demonstrate the effectiveness of scaling laws in predicting running performance.