NRI-Small: Robust, highly-mobile MEMS micro-robots based on integration of piezoelectric and polymer materials

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The research objective of this award is to integrate polymer and piezoelectric micro-structures to create robust, sub-centimeter terrestrial micro-robots, and to use a combination of modeling and experimentation to evaluate leg dynamics of such robots. Specifically, high-aspect ratio parylene flexural mechanisms will be integrated with thin-film lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) actuators in complex, multi-degree-of-freedom micro-robotic leg joints. Experimental measurements of parylene structure response to integrated thin-film PZT actuation or external bulk PZT ceramic or load cell actuation will be used to characterize parylene stiffness and damping characteristics at varying strain rates, relative to high-strain rate piezoelectric actuation. Adhesion between bulk-micromachined silicon trench surfaces and PZT/metal stack layers will also be evaluated. Measured parylene properties will then be incorporated into existing micro-robotic foot-terrain models developed by the PI and students to produce simulation models of PZT-polymer robots that can be validated against experimental robot prototypes. Successful completion of this work would dramatically improve the ability of walking millimeter-scale micro-robots to move over uneven terrain, thus increasing the range of possible interactions between human operators and engineered or natural systems. The target user community for millimeter-scale autonomous robots includes disaster response teams, infrastructure maintenance and monitoring workers, and national security organizations. The framework to be deployed would be a technique to embed piezoelectric microactuators in resilient micro-robotic appendages, producing sample walking micro-robot platforms. Results from this research would be coupled into both undergraduate and graduate curriculum and secondary school education. The latter effort will consist of interactive hands-on and web-based projects developed by the PI for use in science education for the local Ypsilanti, Michigan school district and the broader community of interested citizens.