Gait Analysis of Underwater Octopod Microrobot

The low actuating voltage and quick bending responses of ICPF (ionic conducting polymer film) are considered very useful and attractive for the construction of various types of actuators and sensors. In this paper, first we present an octopod underwater microrobot which has eight legs, and each leg is made up of two pieces of ICPF. Then we use theory analysis to illustrate the motion mechanism of the microrobot, and study the octopod gait of the microrobot to perform transverse and rotation movement when the legs of crab collaborate. Finally, the experimental results indicate that the octopod gait above is feasible.