A micro hexapod robot for swarm applications assembled from a single FPC sheet

Abstract

In recent years, micro robots have been actively studied for swarm applications. For example, micro hexapod robots have remarkable mobility on rough terrains. To apply micro hexapod robots in swarm explorations, the fabrication costs of the robots must be reduced. In this study, we propose a hexapod robot for swarm applications, assembled from a single flexible printed circuit (FPC) sheet. The necessary components for swarm applications (the body frame, legs, micro actuators, walking linkages, driving circuits, and microcontroller) are integrated into one FPC sheet. Our robot is assembled by folding one FPC sheet, and eliminating the need to handle and align multiple components during assembly. Thus, the robot can be fabricated cost effectively in short time. Moreover, we perform a driving test of the walking linkage and a walking test of the hexapod robot to demonstrate its effectiveness.