Design of a Piezoelectrically Actuated Jumping Robot

Abstract

This paper presents the design and simulation of a mesoscale robot that can jump vertically. The robot uses the vibration of a piezocomposite actuator named LIPCA. A ratchet mechanism is designed to convert the vertical vibration to angular displacement. Then the displacement is transferred to a pair of links such that a spring is compressed. The elastic energy of spring is used to make the robot jump vertically. Simulation results verify that the robot can jump as high as about three times its body height.