Title :
Design of an autonomous swimming miniature robot based on a novel concept of magnetic actuation
Author :
Tortora, Giuseppe ; Caccavaro, Sebastiano ; Valdastri, Pietro ; Menciassi, Arianna ; Dario, Paolo
Author_Institution :
Center of Res. In Microengineering (CRIM) Lab., Scuola Superiore Sant´´Anna, Pisa, Italy
Abstract :
In this work, we propose a new concept for locomotion of a miniature jellyfish-like robot based on the interaction of mobile permanent magnets. The robot is 35 mm in length and 15 mm in width, and it incorporates a rotary actuator, a magnetic rotor, several elastic magnetic tails and a polymeric body embedding a wireless microcontroller and power supply. The novel magnetic mechanism is very versatile for numerous applications and can be tailored and adapted on the basis of different specifications. An analytical model of the magnetic mechanism allows to shape the robot design based on the specific application. The working principle of the robot together with the design, prototyping and testing phases are illustrated in this paper.
Keywords :
control engineering computing; electromagnetic actuators; marine systems; microcontrollers; microrobots; mobile robots; permanent magnets; rotors; autonomous swimming miniature robot design; elastic magnetic tails; magnetic actuation; magnetic rotor; miniature jellyfish-like robot; mobile permanent magnets; power supply; rotary actuator; wireless microcontroller; Analytical models; Magnetoelasticity; Magnetosphere; Microcontrollers; Mobile robots; Permanent magnets; Pneumatic actuators; Polymers; Power supplies; Tail;
Conference_Titel :
Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2010 IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Anchorage, AK
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-5038-1
Electronic_ISBN :
1050-4729
DOI :
10.1109/ROBOT.2010.5509599