A jellyfish-like swimming mini-robot actuated by an electromagnetic actuation system

作者：Ko Youngho^*; Na Sungyoung; Lee Youngwoo; Cha Kyoungrae; Ko Seong Young; Park Jongoh; Park Sukho

来源：Smart Materials and Structures, 2012, 21(5): 057001.

DOI：10.1088/0964-1726/21/5/057001

Among the various kinds of actuations for biomimetic robots, the electromagnetic actuation (EMA) method has been regarded as the one with the most potential. This paper proposes a jellyfish-like swimming mini-robot actuated by an EMA system in three-dimensional (3D) space. The jellyfish-like mini-robot has four flexible fins, each of which is equipped with a permanent magnet for electromagnetic actuation; the robot%26apos;s body is 17 mm long and 0.5 mm thick. Our EMA system was able to generate a uniform magnetic field in a desired direction in 3D space, which could bend the fins of the jellyfish-like mini-robot. Therefore, a cyclic change in the uniform magnetic field, in the EMA system, would synchronize the fluctuation of the fins and could generate a propulsion force for the robot, in the desired direction. In order to maximize the propulsion force of the jellyfish-like mini-robot, the waveform and frequency of the input current in the EMA system are optimized. Consequently, our jellyfish-like mini-robot was able to generate maximum propulsion force when a square waveform input current (13 A magnitude and 10 Hz frequency) was applied to the EMA system. Finally, the jellyfish-like mini-robot with the EMA system was able to perform various 3D swimming motions.

• 出版日期2012-5