# US 2014/0195094 A1 · Microcrawler and Conveyor Robots, Controllers, Systems, and Methods

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- Number: US 2014/0195094 A1
- Document ID: US20140195094A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/866,513
- Filed: 2013-04-19
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2008-08-18
- Assignees: Board of Regents, The University of Texas System
- Inventors: Dan O. Popa; Rakesh Murthy; Aditya N. Das
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140195094A1

## CPC

- B25J 9/1697: {Vision controlled systems}
- B25J 7/00: Micromanipulators {(specimen supports for investigating or analysing materials G01N23/2204; associated with microscopes G02B21/32; means for supporting or positioning the objects or the material in discharge tubes H01J37/20)}
- B62D 57/02: with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members
- B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50})
- B62D: MOTOR VEHICLES; TRAILERS (steering, or guiding on a desired track, of agricultural machines or implements A01B69/00; wheels, castors, axles, increasing wheel adhesion B60B; vehicle tyres, tyre inflation or tyre changing B60C; connections between vehicles of a train or the like B60D; vehicles for use on rail and road, amphibious or convertible vehicles B60F; suspension arrangements B60G; heating, cooling, ventilating or other air treating devices B60H; windows, windscreens, non-fixed roofs, doors or similar devices, protective coverings for vehicles not in use B60J; propulsion plant arrangements, auxiliary drives, transmissions, controls, instrumentation or dashboards B60K; electric equipment or propulsion of electrically-propelled vehicles B60L; power supply for electrically-propelled vehicles B60M; passenger accommodation not otherwise provided for B60N; adaptations for load transportation or to carry special loads or objects B60P; arrangement of signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor, for vehicles in general B60Q; vehicles, vehicle fittings or vehicle parts not otherwise provided for B60R; servicing, cleaning, repairing, supporting, lifting, or manoeuvring, not otherwise provided for, B60S; brake arrangements, brake control systems or parts thereof B60T; air-cushion vehicles B60V; motor-cycles, accessories therefor B62J, B62K; testing of vehicles G01M)

## Abstract

Robots, controllers, systems, and methods for microcrawler robots (e.g., with stick-slip gaited locomotion and/or with power multiplexing between actuators).

## Claims

### Claim 1

A robot comprising:
a body;
a plurality of actuators coupled to the body, the plurality of actuators each actuatable in a single degree-of-freedom (DOF);
a plurality of legs each coupled in fixed relation to at least a portion of a different actuator and extending from that actuator at a nonparallel angle relative to the DOF of that actuator;
where the robot is configured such that if the robot is disposed with the legs extending upward from the body and a payload is supported by the legs above the body, the actuators can move the legs in a sequence to move the payload laterally.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The robot of claim 1, where the robot is configured such that if the robot is disposed on a suitable surface with the legs supporting the body above the surface, the actuators can move the legs in a sequence to move the robot across the surface.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The robot of claim 1, where each leg is substantially perpendicular to the DOF of the actuator to which the leg is coupled.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The robot of claim 3, where the DOF of each actuator is linear along an axis, and where the axis of at least one actuator is substantially parallel to the axis of at least one other actuator.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The robot of claim 4, where the axes of all the actuators are substantially parallel to each other.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The robot of claim 1, where the body comprises a microelectromechanical-systems (MEMS) die having a plurality of prismatic joints, each joint including one of the actuators and a socket coupled to that actuator and configured to be coupled to a leg, and where the DOF of each actuator is in substantially the same plane as the DOF of each of the other actuators.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The robot of claim 6, where each leg is substantially perpendicular to the DOF of the actuator to which the leg is coupled.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The robot of claim 7, where the legs comprise Silicon.

### Claim 9

(canceled)

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The robot of claim 7, where each actuator is a chevron electro-thermal actuator and each leg is coupled to a socket with a snap fastener.

### Claim 11

(canceled)

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The robot of claim 10, further comprising:
a plurality of boots each coupled to a different one of the legs.

### Claim 13 (depends on 6)

The robot of claim 6, further comprising:
an electronics module coupled to the actuators and configured to actuate the actuators to sequentially move the legs relative to the body.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The robot of claim 13, where the electronics module is configured such that if the actuators are actuated to sequentially move the legs at a rate, current is time-multiplexed to the actuators at a faster rate than the rate of the sequential movement of the legs.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The robot of claim 14, where the electronics module comprises a power module and a controller.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The robot of claim 1, further comprising:
a microcontroller coupled to the plurality of actuators and configured such that if coupled to a power source, the microcontroller can be activated to sequentially actuate the actuators at a rate by time-multiplexing current to the actuators at a faster rate than the rate of sequential actuation of the actuators.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The robot of claim 16, where the microcontroller is configured such that if the rate of sequential actuation of the actuators is reduced by a factor of ten, the rate of power consumption of the actuators is reduced by a factor of about one hundred.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The robot of claim 16, where the microcontroller is configured such that if the microcontroller is activated to sequentially actuate the actuators, the microcontroller can sequentially actuate the actuators to consume 100 to 400 milliamps (mA) of current at a voltage of eighteen to twenty volts across the actuators.

### Claim 19 (depends on 13)

The robot of claim 13, where the electronics module comprises:
a microcontroller coupled to the actuators and configured such that if coupled to a power source, the microcontroller can be activated to sequentially actuate the actuators at a rate by time-multiplexing current to the actuators at a faster rate than the rate of sequential actuation of the actuators.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The robot of claim 19, where the microcontroller is configured such that if the rate of sequential actuation of the actuators is reduced by a factor of ten, the rate of power consumption of the actuators is reduced by a factor of about one hundred.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The robot of claim 20, where the microcontroller is configured such that if the microcontroller is activated to sequentially actuate the actuators, the microcontroller can sequentially actuate the actuators to consume 100 to 400 milliamps (mA) of current at a voltage of eighteen to twenty volts across the actuators.

### Claim 22 (depends on 19)

The robot of claim 19, where the microcontroller is configured to sequentially actuate one or more actuators at a first frequency and one or more other actuators at a second frequency to steer the microrobot according to a fifth-order vector model.

### Claim 23

A system comprising:
a computer having a trajectory planner configured to generate instructions for a robot to travel along a planned trajectory, the robot comprising:
a body;
a plurality of actuators coupled to the body, the plurality of actuators each actuatable in a single degree-of-freedom (DOF); and
a plurality of legs each coupled to a different actuator and extending from that actuator at a nonparallel angle relative to the DOF of that actuator;
where the robot is configured such that if the robot is disposed with the legs extending upward from the body and a payload is supported by the legs above the body, the actuators can move the legs in a sequence to move the payload laterally; and
an image sensor coupled to the computer and configured to provide image data having a resolution to the computer;
where the computer is configured to generate instructions for the robot to follow the planned trajectory based upon a position of the robot determined from the image data.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The system of claim 23, further comprising:
a fine-position sensor coupled to the computer and configured to provide fine-position data having a resolution greater than the resolution of the image data;
where the computer is configured to generate instructions for the robot to follow the planned trajectory based upon the position of the robot determined from the image data and from the fine-position data.