In-pipe wireless microrobot

Nobuaki Kawahara; Takayuki Shibata; Takanari Sasaya

doi:10.1117/12.357821

18 August 1999 In-pipe wireless microrobot

Nobuaki Kawahara, Takayuki Shibata, Takanari Sasaya

Proceedings Volume 3834, Microrobotics and Microassembly; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.357821
Event: Photonics East '99, 1999, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

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.

Citation Download Citation

Nobuaki Kawahara, Takayuki Shibata, and Takanari Sasaya "In-pipe wireless microrobot", Proc. SPIE 3834, Microrobotics and Microassembly, (18 August 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.357821

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