Moobot: A Miniature Origami Omnidirectional Jumping Robot With High Trajectory Accuracy
Lingqi Tang, Yao Li, Bing Li
Abstract
Trajectory control is important for jumping robots because it helps them to overcome different obstacles; however, integrating actuators and sensors exhibiting small scale and high accuracy remains challenging. No insect-scale jumping robots have yet demonstrated accurate trajectory following. Here, we propose a miniature origami omnidirectional jumping robot (Moobot) capable of high-accuracy feedback control of its jumping trajectory. The robot is based on a four-bar origami structure and shape memory alloys. Two strain gauges and an inertial measurement unit were used to control the jumping force and takeoff angle, respectively, and a reliable jumping mechanism and novel supporting leg were designed to improve jumping stability and trajectory accuracy. Unlike typical externally powered miniature robots, we constructed a 5 cm, 6 g untethered prototype. The error and the standard deviation of the jumping distances were both less than 1.5 cm; this represents a significant improvement relative to all previous insect-scale jumping robots. Furthermore, we integrated the yaw control and conducted omnidirectional jumping experiments, showing that Moobot was capable of accurately traversing different platforms from all directions.