Pop-up assembly of a quadrupedal ambulatory MicroRobot

Here we present the design of a 1.27g quadrupedal microrobot manufactured using “Pop-up book MEMS” the first such device capable of locomotion. Implementing popup assembly techniques enables manufacturing of the robot´s exoskeleton and drivetrain transmissions from a single 23-layer laminate. Its demonstrated capabilities include payload capacity greater than 1.35g (106% of body mass), maneuverability on flat terrain, and high-speed locomotion up to 37cm/s. Additionally, locomotion performance is compared to a hand-assembled quadruped with similar design parameters. The results demonstrate that the pop-up manufacturing methodology enables more complex mechanisms while simultaneously increasing performance over hand-assembled alternatives.