Stacked electrostatic angle sensor implemented in micro robot leg joints

Abstract

Recently, micro walking robots have been studied actively. These robots realize robust movement on various terrains, and they are useful as swarm applications. We focus on the angle control of the robots. Conventionally external sensors such as rotary encoders were attached to joints. When assembly external sensors and joint components, the handling and positioning are needed. Robots that require considerable assembly operations of many components are not optimal for these applications. In this research, we proposed the integration of robot frames and capacitive angle sensors into one compliant sheet. We proposed a stacked electrostatic angle sensor. This sensor is assembled by folding the two ribbon electrodes alternately. The angle is estimated from the capacitance owing to the distance between the electrodes. We designed and fabricated the sensor. Furthermore, we constructed the angle feedback control system using our sensor. We succeeded in feedback control within the range from 0° to 30°.