Characteristics Analysis of a Biomimetic Underwater Walking Microrobot

Underwater microrobots have powerful applications in invasive medical field and in-pipe industrial field. For underwater microrobots, some characteristics are needed, such as the water proof actuators, simple and compact structure and efficient locomotion. Inspired by the stick-insect, we proposed a biomimetic underwater microrobot actuated by ICPF (Ionic Conducting Polymer Film) actuators. It has 6 legs, and walks in tripodic gait with 2 degree of freedoms. We evaluated the characteristics of ICPF actuators. We also analyzed the mechanism of walking and rotating motions, and got the simulation speeds. So we developed a prototype of the biomimetic underwater microrobot. It is 30 mm in length, 55 mm in width and 8 mm in height. And we also measured the speeds of walking and rotating motions in experiments. The microrobot can realize walking speed of 6 mm/s and rotating speed of 7.1 degree/s respectively. The experimental results indicate the simulation results are almost similar with the experimental results in trend.