Design, Prototyping and Performance Evaluation of a Bio-inspired Walking Microrobot

This paper presents the development of a small and lightweight differential hexapedal microrobot, inspired by cockroach locomotion mechanism. Detailed design, prototyping and performance evaluation are reported in this paper. The manufacturing process of the microrobot uses Smart Composite Microstructure method by employing origami-inspired techniques. Each leg of the robot has 2-DoF in Cartesian space and uses cockroach mechanism in its configuration with lightweight moving parts. This microrobot deploys an on-board power source and control system architecture which offers the advantage of self-stabilizing in a horizontal plane, head orientation control and stair climbing capability that have not previously been reported in the literature. A prototype of the microrobot has been constructed and was evaluated at different terrains.