Miniature Amphibious Robot Actuated by Rigid‐Flexible Hybrid Vibration Modules

Dehong Wang; Yingxiang Liu; Jie Deng; Shijing Zhang; Jing Li; Weiyi Wang; Junkao Liu; Weishan Chen; Qiquan Quan; Gangfeng Liu; Hui Xie; Jie Zhao

doi:10.1002/advs.202203054

Advanced Science (Oct 2022)

Miniature Amphibious Robot Actuated by Rigid‐Flexible Hybrid Vibration Modules

Dehong Wang,
Yingxiang Liu,
Jie Deng,
Shijing Zhang,
Jing Li,
Weiyi Wang,
Junkao Liu,
Weishan Chen,
Qiquan Quan,
Gangfeng Liu,
Hui Xie,
Jie Zhao

Affiliations

Dehong Wang: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Yingxiang Liu: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Jie Deng: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Shijing Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Jing Li: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Weiyi Wang: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Junkao Liu: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Weishan Chen: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Qiquan Quan: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Gangfeng Liu: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Hui Xie: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China
Jie Zhao: State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology Harbin 150001 China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202203054
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 9, no. 29
pp. n/a – n/a

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Amphibious robots can undertake various tasks in terrestrial and aquatic environments for their superior environmental compatibility. However, the existing amphibious robots usually utilize multi‐locomotion systems with transmission mechanisms, leading to complex and bulky structures. Here, a miniature amphibious robot based on vibration‐driven locomotion mechanism is developed. The robot has two unique rigid‐flexible hybrid modules (RFH‐modules), in which a soft foot and a flexible fin are arranged on a rigid leg to conduct vibrations from an eccentric motor to the environment. Then, it can run on ground with the soft foot adopting the friction locomotion mechanism and swim on water with the flexible fin utilizing the vibration‐induced flow mechanism. The robot is untethered with a compact size of 75 × 95 × 21 mm3 and a small weight of 35 g owing to no transmission mechanism or joints. It realizes the maximum speed of 815 mm s–1 on ground and 171 mm s–1 on water. The robot, actuated by the RFH‐modules based on vibration‐driven locomotion mechanism, exhibits the merits of miniature structure and fast movements, indicating its great potential for applications in narrow amphibious environments.

Published in Advanced Science

ISSN: 2198-3844 (Online)
Publisher: Wiley
Country of publisher: Germany
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/21983844

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords