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International Journal of Automation and Computing 4 (2006) 358-365

A New Type of Hybrid Fish-like Microrobot


Wei Zhang
Engineering, Kagawa University, Takamatsu 761-0396, Japan

Shu-Xiang Guo
Engineering, Kagawa University, Takamatsu 761-0396, Japan
Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, PRC

Kinji Asaka
Kansai Research Institute, AIST, Midorigaoka, Osaka 563-8577, Japan

Abstract: In order to develop a new type of fish-like microrobot with swimming, walking, and floating motions, in our
past research, we developed a hybrid microrobot actuated by ionic conducting polymer film (ICPF) actuators. But the
microrobot had some problems in walking and floating motions. In this paper, we propose a concept of hybrid microrobot
(see Fig. 1). The microrobot is actuated by a pair of caudal fins, a base with legs and an array of artificial swim bladders. We
have developed a prototype of the base with legs and one artificial swim bladder, respectively, and carried out experiments
for evaluating their characteristics. Experimental results show the base with legs can realize walking speed of 6 mm/s and
rotating speed of 7.1 degrees/s respectively, and the prototype of the artificial swim bladder has a maximum floatage of
2.6 mN. The experimental results also indicate that the microrobot has some advantages, such as walking motion with 2
degrees of freedom, the walking ability on rough surface (sand paper), the controllable floatage, etc. This kind of fish-like
microrobot is expected for industrial and medical applications.

Keywords: Biomimetic locomotion, ionic conducting polymer film (ICPF) actuator, hybrid microrobot, underwater mi-
crorobot.

1 Introduction voltage between the electrodes[69] . The actuator is


soft and works in water or a wet environment. The
Underwater robots have powerful applications in ICPF actuator has several advantages. It bends with
many fields, such as aquatic life observation, medi- low voltage (above 1 V). It bends silently, responds
cal diagnosis and seabed exploration. But traditional quickly and consumes little energy. Its density is near
screw propeller is limited in some fields because of to water. The electromagnetic field of the ICPF actua-
the noise and the electromagnetic field. For the last tor is practically undetectable. However, as an emerg-
two decades, biomimetic robots have been focused on. ing technology, ICPF has some disadvantages, such as
Many kinds of locomotion of creatures have been used weak propulsion and lack of long-term stability.
on robots, such as swimming, walking, crawling and ICPF actuators are used as artificial muscles to
so on[15] . With the development of the micro sys- drive robots[10,11]. Because of its fast response, the
tem technology, underwater microrobots have urgently ICPF actuator is widely used in swimming microrobots
been demanded. In the microrobot fields, smart mate- as oscillating or undulation fins[1219] . ICPF actuators
rials (like ionic conducting polymer film (ICPF), piezo- are also used for biped walking underwater robot[16,20] .
electric elements, pneumatic actuator, shape memory A kind of ICPF micro leg with 2-DOF has been devel-
alloy) pave the way for a great variety of microrobot oped in [21]. A ciliary motion based 8-legged walking
design. microrobot has also been developed in [22, 23].
In the last decade, ICPF actuators have been widely Towards a hybrid fish-like robot as shown in Fig. 1,
researched. An ICPF actuator consists of a perfluoro- we developed an underwater fish-like microrobot actu-
sulfonic acid membrane with chemically plated gold as ated by ICPF actuators in [24], as shown in Fig. 2. The
electrodes on both sides. It bends by applying a low microrobot is actuated by a pair of caudal fins and two
legs. The caudal fins propel the body forward in swim-
Manuscript received July 8, 2006; revised August 28, 2006. ming motion. The legs have two functions. When the
Corresponding author. E-mail address:
frequencies of legs are over 0.3 Hz, the legs act as the
s04d506@stmail.eng.kagawa-u.ac.jp walking propellers, and the microrobot is in walking
W. Zhang et al./A New Type of Hybrid Fish-like Microrobot 359

motion. When the frequencies of legs are lower than age;


0.3 Hz, the legs act as the floatage adjuster. They 5) To release the bubbles freely.
electrolyze the water, and the bubbles adhere to the This paper is structured as follows. Firstly, we
microrobot, so the floatage is changed. In this way, introduce the concept of hybrid fish-like microrobot.
the microrobot is in floating motion. The microrobot Secondly, we introduce the moving mechanism of
is 10 mm in width and 45 mm in length. Experi- swimming, walking and floating motions. Thirdly,
mental results showed that it had a swimming speed we develop the parts prototypes for walking motion
of 5.5 mm/s, walking speed of 1.4 mm/s and floating and floating motion, and evaluate the characteristics.
speed of 2.7 mm/s. But the microrobot had some dis- Lastly, we draw some conclusions.
advantages in walking and floating motions: 1) The
walking motion was only of one DOF; 2) Moving on 2 A concept of hybrid microrobot
rough surface was still a big problem; 3) The supporter
was not a contributor of moving; 4) The bubbles were We propose a concept of a new type of hybrid fish-
tiny (less than 10 mm3 ) and could not be collected and like microrobot. It consists of a body, a pair of caudal
were difficult to get rid of. fins, a base with legs, and an array of artificial swim
bladders, as shown in Fig. 3. The caudal fins generate
the propulsion for swimming motion. The legs are used
for walking. And the artificial swim bladders are the
floatage adjuster.

Fig. 1 A concept of hybrid fish-like underwater microrobot

Fig. 3 The structure of the proposed microrobot

2.1 The structure of the base with legs

Fig. 2 A photo of the developed hybrid fish-like Insects are the experts in using legs. One step cycle
microrobot of an abbreviated leg of the insect is shown in Fig. 4.
Each step cycle can be divided into two phases, the
In this paper, we propose a concept of hybrid fish- swing-search phase and the stance phase[2527] . Tra-
like microrobot. The microrobot consists of a pair of ditional robots are always employing multi-joint legs
caudal fins, a base with legs and an array of artificial inspired from nature. The multi-joint legs are flexi-
swim bladders, as shown in Fig. 1. The microrobot is ble, but they need much space, actuators and complex
proposed to have the following functions: control method and not suitable for microrobots.
1) To have multi DOFs in walking motion; We designed a structure with one-DOF actuators,
2) To walk on rough surface; as shown in Fig. 5-A-(a). The vertical actuator is
3) To walk without resistance from the ground; called the driver. It is to offer moving propulsion.
4) To collect the bubbles and attain a larger float- The horizontal actuator is the supporter and to lift
360 International Journal of Automation and Computing 4 (2006) 358-365

the driver up so that the driver can revert for the 2.2 The structure of the array of artificial
next propulsion. Supporters and drivers hold the body swim bladders
alternately[2830] . The strategies for some terrains are
shown in Fig. 5. For a compact structure and the flex- The array of artificial swim bladders is inspired
ibility, based on our past work[31,32], the base is devel- by the fish. It consists of several bladders, as shown
oped using six actuators as shown in Fig. 6. The A, in Fig. 7(b). One artificial swim bladder is shown in
C and E are drivers, and the B, D, and F are sup- Fig. 7(a). It has one ICPF actuator to electrolyze the
porters. Although they are asymmetric, adjusting the water to get the bubbles. A gas container is to collect
centers of drivers and supporters to the weight center, the bubbles in its cavity, and it is conjoined to the base
the asymmetric effect can be ignored. stander by a shaft so that it can rotate to release the
bubble.

Fig. 4 The two main phases in insect walking (stick insect)

Fig. 7 The structure of the array of artificial swim bladder

3 The motion mechanisms of the micro-


robot
3.1 The mechanism of the swimming mo-
tion

The caudal fins are two ICPFs offsetting with d,


and driven by applied AC voltages as shown in Fig. 8.
When proper phase difference appears, the fin gener-
ates an propulsion as shown in Fig. 9. Moving motions
(forward, right turn and left turn) can be realized by
changing frequencies of fins (as shown in Table 1).

Fig. 5 Different strategies for different environments


A: Walking on flat surface, B: Climbing over a stair, C:
Stride over a pit

Fig. 8 Driving electric voltage for caudal fins

Fig. 6 The structure of the base with legs Fig. 9 Mechanism of the caudal fins
W. Zhang et al./A New Type of Hybrid Fish-like Microrobot 361

Table 1 The strategies of swimming motion 4) In period D ((c) to (d)), drivers bend backward
Motions Conditions as the propulsion stroke, and the body is pushed for-
Forward f1 = f2 ward.
Right turn f1 > f2 During the swing-search phase (period A, B and
Left turn f1 < f2 C), drivers are away from the ground and find an-
other foothold point with the help of supporters. In
f 1 and f 2 stand for the frequencies of the caudal fins on right the stance phase (period D), drivers push the body
and left respectively forward.
3.2 The mechanism of the walking motion
The drivers and supporters are in the same fre-
quency, and the phase of supporters is delayed by 90 de-
grees, as shown in Fig. 10. The drivers offer the propul-
Fig. 11 One step cycle of moving forward (The marks ,
sion for walking. The supporters are not contributors
indicate which legs contact the ground)
of walking, but they help the drivers avoid the resis-
tance from the ground when the drivers revert. Differ-
ent walking motions can be realized, as shown in Table If the displacement of the actuator is d and the base
2. with legs can move forward l in one step cycle, as shown
in Fig. 12, then it is easy to obtain (1). And the speed
is given by (2) where v is the average speed, and f
stands for the frequency.
l=d (1)
v = d f. (2)

Fig. 10 The control signals of the base with legs

Table 2 The strategies of walking motion


Fig. 12 The efficiency of the driver in walking motion
Motions A C E (Supporters are not drawn out)
Walking forward - - -
Walking backward + + +
Rotating in clockwise + + - Rotating motion in counter-clockwise is shown in
Rotating in counter clockwise - - + Fig. 13. As an abbreviated description, in the stance
phase ((c) to (d)), drivers push the body rotating. In
A, C and E stand for the three drivers as shown in Fig. 6. + the swing-search phase, drivers prepare for the stroke
and - mean the drivers bending forward and backward respec- with the help of supporters. The microrobot can ro-
tively in stance phase tate in one cycle described as (3), as shown in Fig. 14.
From (4) and (5), can also be described as (6), where
A step cycle of the fore-and-aft walking motion is d is the displacement of drivers. And the rotating speed
separated into four periods. One step cycle in forward is (7), where and f stand for the rotating speed and
is shown in Fig. 11. the frequency respectively.
1) In period A ((d) to (a)), supporters lift the body
= + 2 (3)
up and drivers are lifted away from the ground.
2) In period B ((a) to (b)), drivers bend forward. 15 + d 15 d
= 1 + 2 = arctan + arctan
3) In period C ((b) to (c)), supporters bend upward 55 55
(4)
enough so that supporters are away from the ground 15 d
and drivers hold the ground. = + 2 = + arctan (5)
2 2 55
362 International Journal of Automation and Computing 4 (2006) 358-365

15 + d 15 d
= 1 2 = arctan arctan
55 55
(6)
15 + d 15 d
= f = (arctan arctan )f
55 55
(7)

Fig. 13 One step cycle of the rotating motion (The marks Fig. 15 The mechanism principle of the artificial swim
, indicate which legs contact the ground) bladder
Table 3 The strategies of floating motion
Motions Conditions
Sink down until on the ground F + F < M g
Suspend in water F + F = M g
Float up until in the water surface F + F > M g

F and M g are the floatage and weight of the microrobot respec-


tively, and F is the floatage increment of the artificial swim
bladders
Fig. 14 The efficiency of the driver in rotating motion
(Supporters are not drawn out)
4 Characteristics and experimental re-
sults
3.3 The mechanism of the floating motion 4.1 The characteristic of the base with legs
The electrolyzing phenomenon of water proportions We have developed a prototype of the base with legs
to voltage and inversely to frequency. When water as shown in Fig. 16. It is about 30 mm in length, 55
around the ICPF surface is electrolyzed, the bubbles mm in width and 8 mm in height. The actuators are
can change the floatage. We know that the floatage is 113 mm2 and 0.2 mm in thickness.
F = Va (8)

where Va , and F are the microrobot volume, water


density and floatage, respectively.
When the microrobot weight M g is slightly larger
than F , the microrobot is on the ground in water.
When water is electrolyzed and the gas is collected by
the gas container, the floatage is increasing, as shown
in Fig. 15(a). The changing floatage, F , is decided by
the volume of the gas container, v, and the number
of electrified artificial swim bladders, n, as shown in
(9), where N is the total number of the artificial swim
bladders.

F = n v (n = 0, , N ). (9)
Fig. 16 The photo of the developed base with legs
When a higher voltage or lower frequency signal is
applied to the actuator, the displacement of actuator is Applying signals with different voltages and fre-
enlarged, so it drives the gas container rotating to expel quencies, we recorded the time for walking motion dur-
the gas by pushing the releaser, as shown in Fig. 15(b). ing 10 cm and rotating motion in 90 degrees. The calcu-
In this case, the increasing floatage, F , can be lated walking and rotating speeds are shown in Figs. 17
changed from 0 to N v, and the state of the mi- and 18. We also carried out experiment of climbing and
crorobot in water can be controlled as shown in Table striding. The base climbed on a 2 mm-high stair, and
3. strode over a 5 mm-wide pit, with 0.5 Hz, 8 V.
W. Zhang et al./A New Type of Hybrid Fish-like Microrobot 363

Fig. 17 The speed in walking motion

(a) The artificial swim bladder

Fig. 18 The angular velocity in rotating motion

(b) The components


4.2 The characteristic of the swim bladder
Fig. 19 Developed a prototype of an artificial swim
We developed a prototype of an artificial swim blad- bladder
der as shown in Fig. 19. As the design, it is made of
four parts, a base stander, a gas container, a shaft and
an ICPF actuator. Some important mechanical parts
have been labeled.
The specifications of the prototype are 28 mm in
height and 14 mm14 mm in standing area. It is 0.33 g
and its floatage without gas is 2.1 mN (dipped in water
over 30 min).
To verify the characteristics of the swim bladder, we
did experiments to measure the upload ability, shown
in Fig. 20. In our experiments, the prototype generated
a floatage of 2.6 mN, which is more than 20 times of
the preceding microrobot.
Fig. 20 The upload ability. The upload includes the
The result shows that when the voltage is 2 V, the
artificial swim bladder itself, which is 1.2 mN in water.
actuator has a fast electrolyzing velocity, and the ve-
The time means how long it costs to float up with upload.
locity is linear in the beginning period. As the time
The signal is square wave, 0.1 Hz
goes, the velocity trends to 0. The higher the voltage
is (such as 5 V, 10 V), the faster the trend comes. In
Fig. 20, data are in the beginning period.
364 International Journal of Automation and Computing 4 (2006) 358-365

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the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME), the Tokai
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Science and Technology Foundation, and the Best Paper Award
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2003 International Conference on Control Science and Technol-
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sults of a Tripodic Biomimetic Microrobot with 5 DOFs. in science from Kyoto University in
In Proceedings of The 6th World Congress on Intelligent 1991. He is currently a group leader of
Control and Automation (WCICA2006), Dalian, China, pp. the Artificial Cell Research Group, Re-
83788382, June 21-23, 2006. search Institute for Cell Engineering of
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water microrobots utilizing ICPF actuators. In Proceedings trial Science and Technology (AIST).
of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots His current research interests in-
and Systems, Beijing, China, Oct. 9-15, 2006, to be pub- clude interfacial electrochemistry and
lished. polymer actuators.
Dr. Asaka is a member of the Soci-
ety of Polymer Science, Japan and the Society of Instrument and
Wei Zhang received his B.Sc. and Control and Engineers.
M.Sc degrees from University of Elec-
tronic Science and Technology of
China (UESTC), China, in 2001 and
2004, respectively. Currently, he is
a Ph.D. candidate in Kagawa Univer-
sity, Japan. He researches on underwa-
ter microrobot utilizing artificial mus-
cles, such as Ionic Conducting Poly-
mer Film (ICPF) actuators for indus-
try and bio-medical applications.

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