A Torsion-Bending Antagonistic Bistable Actuator Enables Untethered Crawling and Swimming of Miniature Robots.

ABSTRACT: Miniature robots show great potential in exploring narrow and confined spaces to perform various tasks, but many applications are limited by the dependence of these robots on electrical or pneumatic tethers to power supplies outboard. Developing an onboard actuator that is small in size and powerful enough to carry all the components onboard is a major challenge to eliminate the need for a tether. Bistability can trigger a dramatic energy release during switching between the 2 stable states, thus providing a promising way to overcome the intrinsic limitation of insufficient power of small actuators. In this work, the antagonistic action between torsional deflection and bending deflection in a lamina emergent torsional joint is utilized to achieve bistability, yielding a buckling-free bista

SUBMITTER: Hu N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10243200 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature