Arc-heating actuated active-morphing insect robots
Jingyu Che, Xiangyu Yang, Jinzhe Peng, Jingyi Li, Zhiwei Liu, Mingjing Qi
Abstract
In nature, insects can swiftly move and actively morph to adapt to complex and varied conditions. However, replicating this capability in insect-scale robots requires sophisticated structural designs, which are difficult to achieve at such a small scale without fundamental hardware innovations. This work proposes a coupling mechanism between actuation and morphing by combining an arc-heating actuator and shape memory alloy wires, presenting a fast insect-scale robot (83.4 body lengths per second) capable of active morphing and self-recovery. The arc-heating actuator is designed to provide the kinetic energy and the thermal energy essential for deforming the wires. The robot can compress its body thickness to traverse through a gap of 70% its height smoothly within 2.2 seconds and is amphibious. Furthermore, after enduring pressure 5 million times its weight, the robot is flattened, but fully recovers its original size and performance in just a few seconds. Replicating the swift movement and active morphing of insects in small-scale robots is challenging. The authors developed an insect-scale robot using an arc-heating actuator and shape memory alloy wires, achieving rapid movement, shape morphing, and self-recovery.