Title :
Analysis of a Swimming Micro Robot
Author :
Kósa, Gábor ; Shoham, Moshe ; Zaaroor, Menashe
Author_Institution :
Fac. of Mech. Eng., Israel Inst. of Technol., Haifa
Abstract :
This paper models, analyzes and optimizes a novel swimming method for a swimming micro robot. The propulsion is achieved by creating a traveling wave in an elastic tail made of piezo-electric actuators. The novel swimming method was analyzed analytically by solving the coupled elastic/fluidic problem. The parameters that influence swimming were identified and optimized. It was found that under the extreme size limitations a tail manufactured by current MEMS technology is able to swim at the order of several cm/sec in water
Keywords :
medical robotics; micromechanical devices; microrobots; piezoelectric actuators; MEMS technology; coupled elastic-fluidic analysis; elastic tail; piezo-electric actuator; propulsion; swimming micro robot analysis; traveling wave; Boundary conditions; Mechanical engineering; Medical robotics; Neurosurgery; Payloads; Piezoelectric actuators; Probability distribution; Propulsion; Robots; Tail;
Conference_Titel :
Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, 2006. BioRob 2006. The First IEEE/RAS-EMBS International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Pisa
Print_ISBN :
1-4244-0040-6
DOI :
10.1109/BIOROB.2006.1639072