An in-pipe microrobot which moves at 10 mm/s in a pipe of 15 mm diameter without power supply wire is developed. The robot consists of a microwave energy supply device, a locomotive mechanism using a piezoelectric bimorph actuator, and a control circuit. The energy supply device consists of rectifying circuits and a compact receiving antenna. The required energy of 200 mW is supplied via microwave without wire. 14 GHz microwave is rectified into DC electric energy at a high converting efficiency of 52%. The locomotive device of multi-layered bimorph actuator is newly developed and consumes only 50 mW. The control circuit consists of a saw tooth generator and a programmable logic device, and controls the direction of the robot motion by outside light signal.

Date Published: 18 August 1999
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 3834, Microrobotics and Microassembly, (18 August 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.357821

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3834:
Microrobotics and Microassembly
Bradley J. Nelson; Jean-Marc Breguet, Editor(s)