While most micro-robots face difficulty traveling on rugged and uneven terrain, beetles can walk smoothly on the complex substrate without slipping or getting stuck on the surface due to their stiffness-variable tarsi and expandable hooks on the tip of tarsi. In this study, we found that beetles actively bent and expanded their claws regularly to crawl freely on mesh surfaces. Inspired by the crawling mechanism of the beetles, we designed an 8-cm miniature climbing robot equipping artificial claws to open and bend in the same cyclic manner as natural beetles. The robot can climb freely with a controllable gait on the mesh surface, steep incline of the angle of 60{\deg}, and even transition surface. To our best knowledge, this is the first micro-scale robot that can climb both the mesh surface and cliffy incline.
翻译:虽然大多数微型机器人都很难在崎岖和不均的地形上旅行,但甲虫可以在复杂的基岩上顺利地行走,而不会滑倒或被困在地表上,因为他们的僵硬性、可变的焦油和在焦油尖上的可扩展的钩子。在这项研究中,我们发现甲虫积极地弯曲并定期扩展其爪子以在网状表面自由爬行。在甲虫的爬动机制的启发下,我们设计了一个8厘米的小型攀爬机器人,把人工爪子与天然甲虫一样,以循环的方式打开和弯曲。机器人可以在网状表面自由攀爬,在网状表面有可控的网格,60英德角的斜线,甚至转换地表。据我们所知,这是第一个可以攀爬网状表面和悬崖的微型机器人。