Mobile micro-robots are needed for micro positioning, manipulation or manufacturing small components, or
sensing in chemical and biological environments. The design of mobile micro-robots poses challenges in terms
of fabrication, actuation and sensing. Current approaches require complex assembly or sophisticated MEMS
processes, to obtain actuators with a high energy density. Furthermore, the energy source for locomotion has
either to be carried onboard (which by itself poses additional miniaturization challenges) or be remotely located
so that the energy is transferred through tethered cables or wirelessly. In this paper, we propose a radically
different approach: the micro-robot consists of a single piece of shape memory alloy (SMA) suitably shaped to
perform inchworm-like locomotion, and remotely actuated by a laser beam. We report the modeling and design
of an SMA inchworm like micro-robot, and the first experimental results.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.