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Development of ICPF actuated underwater microrobots

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Abstract

It is our target to develop underwater microrobots for medical and industrial applications. This kind of underwater microrobots should have the characteristics of flexibility, good response and safety. Its structure should be simple and it can be driven by low voltage and produces no pollution or noise. The low actuating voltage and quick bending responses of Ionic Conducting Polymer Film (ICPF) are considered very useful and attractive for constructing various types of actuators and sensors. In this paper, we will first study the characteristics of the ICPF actuator used in underwater microrobot to realize swimming and walking. Then, we propose a new prototype model of underwater swimming microrobot utilizing only one piece of ICPF as the servo actuator. Through theoretic analysis, the motion mechanism of the microrobot is illustrated. It can swim forward and vertically. The relationships between moving speed and signal voltage amplitude and signal frequency is obtained after experimental study. Lastly, we present a novel underwater crab-like walking microrobot named crabliker-1. It has eight legs, and each leg is made up of two pieces of ICPF. Three sample processes of the octopod gait are proposed with a new analyzing method. The experimental results indicate that the crab-like underwater microrobot can perform transverse and rotation movement when the legs of the crab collaborate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Automation College, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, 150001, PRC

    Xiu-Fen Ye, Bao-Feng Gao & Shu-Xiang Guo

  2. Faculty of Engineering, Kagawa University, Takamatsu, 761-0396, Japan

    Shu-Xiang Guo

  3. College of Mechanical Electrical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, 150001, PRC

    Li-Quan Wang

Authors
  1. Xiu-Fen Ye
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  2. Bao-Feng Gao
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  3. Shu-Xiang Guo
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Correspondence to Xiu-Fen Ye.

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Xiu-Fen Ye received her B.S. degree in automation and the M.Sc degree in control theory and application from Harbin Shipbuilding Engineering Institute, Harbin, China in 1987 and 1990, respectively and the Ph.D. degree in control theory and control engineering from Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China in 2003. She is currently a professor in the Lab of Biomimetic Micro Robot and System, Harbin Engineering University, China.

She has published over 40 journal and conference papers. Her current research interests include biomimetic microrobot system, network computing, image processing and pattern recognition.

Bao-Feng Gao was born in Liaoning, China in 1981. He received his B.Sc. degree in forest engineering (international engineering project management) from the Northeast Forest University, Harbin, China in 2003. He is currently pursuing his M.Sc degree in control theory and control engineering from the Lab of Biomimetic Micro Robot and System, College of Automation, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China.

His research interests include micro robotics and automation, especially the control of micro robotics such as gait control of underwater microrobot.

Shu-Xiang Guo received his B.S. and the M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from the Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Changchun, China in 1983 and 1986, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in mechano-informatics and systems from Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan in 1995. In 1995, he was a faculty member at Mie University, Mie, Japan and in 1998 at Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan. Currently, he is a professor in the Department of Intelligent Mechanical System Engineering at Kagawa University.

He has published about 140 refereed journal and conference papers. His current research interests include micro robotics and mechatronics, micro robotics system for minimal invasive surgery, micro catheter system, micro pump, and smart material (SMA, ICPF) based on actuators.

Prof. Guo received research awards from the Tokai Section of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME), the Tokai Science and Technology Foundation, and the Best Paper Award of the IS International Conference, Best Paper Award of the 2003 International Conference on Control Science and Technology and Best Conference Paper Award of IEEE ROBIO2004, in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004, respectively.

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Ye, XF., Gao, BF., Guo, SX. et al. Development of ICPF actuated underwater microrobots. Int J Automat Comput 3, 382–391 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-006-0382-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11633-006-0382-4

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