Single Piezo Actuator Driven Micro Robot for 2-Dimensional Locomotion

We analyse two micro robots for 2-dimensional locomotion on a flat surface. Forced bending vibrations of continua are used by both systems which are excited by piezoelectric bending actuators. These vibrations are transformed by non classical legs to complex trajectories at the contact points between robot and environment. The locomotion direction of the system can be controlled by the excitation frequencies of the actuation element. Models are developed and investigated to describe important motion effects of the robots. Furthermore some experimental results are presented.