Abstract:
Actuation of micro-robots in relation to the field
of programmable matter has been the aim of most researches
working on the topic. Most studies have concentrated on the
ability of these robot modules to latch with one another and
to be able to move around each other to form the desired
configuration. These mostly have been based on Modular Self
re-configurable Robots (MSR) which use mechanical, magnetic
or pneumatic method in their manoeuvres. However, these
have been faced by the challenges of miniaturization, power
consumption and power transfer between modules. Electrostatic
actuation has attracted more interest in recent works due
to the ability to scale down the modules and to use the
configuration for power transfer and communication. In this
work, we propose to use electrostatic chuck principle to actuate
modules having a cylinder form. Instead of using one array
of electrodes, two columns of electrodes array, positive and
negative, are considered to increase the force generated by the
chuck effect. An array of electrodes prototype has been fabricated using lithography process for validating the actuation.
A sufficient force and torque are generated for latching and
making the cylinder rolling respectively, thus validating and
showing the potential of electrostatic actuation for miniaturized
programmable matter application
