Beihang University Develops Ultrafast Robotic Insect 'BHMbot'
TapTechNews May 16 - Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics recently released a news report on the latest research achievements of Professor Yan Xiaojun's team in the field of robotic insects.
The report stated that the team of Professor Yan Xiaojun from the School of Energy and Power Engineering at Beihang University has invented a micro power system for insect-sized robots. Based on this, they have developed a fast maneuverable, high payload, wirelessly controllable micro robotic insect named 'BHMbot, BeiHang Microrobot' (2cm in length, 1.76g in weight, including energy, control, communication, and sensor modules).
The related research results are published online in the journal 'Nature Communications' under the title 'A Wireless Controlled Robotic Insect with Ultrafast Untethered Running Speeds' (click here to view).
BHMbot robotic insect solves three major problems of micro robots, summarized by TapTechNews as follows:
Improved energy conversion efficiency of micro power system
In the micro power system, the linear drive converts the input electrical energy into mechanical energy and outputs mechanical vibration; the flexible hinge drive mechanism converts this vibration into periodic vibration of bionic legs and high-frequency bouncing movement of the robotic insect body, ultimately achieving efficient conversion of electrical energy into kinetic energy.
Professor Yan Xiaojun's team has invented a new power system based on linear drive and flexible hinge drive, which can achieve efficient energy conversion at centimeter scale.
Improved payload capacity of robotic insects
Existing robotic insects suffer from performance degradation after carrying loads. The team has designed and implemented a bionic running gait. BHMbot robotic insects can adaptively adjust their step frequency and step length during running, achieving fast crawling under high payload.
In addition, BHMbot robotic insects can increase jumping frequency to offset the impact of single jump step attenuation. Even when carrying a weight 5.5 times their own mass, they can still maintain a speed of 25 times their body length per second. When the load is below a certain critical value, the movement speed of BHMbot robotic insects can even increase with the increasing load.
Precise control of robotic insect's motion trajectory
To address the robot control problem, the team has developed centimeter-level micro control and communication circuits. After integrating the energy, control, and communication modules, BHMbot robotic insects can achieve program control and remote control.
BHMbot robotic insects can achieve circular, rectangular, and 'BUAA' letter motion trajectories through preset programs. At the same time, operators can send real-time control instructions via computer or mobile phone to achieve obstacle avoidance in the movement of BHMbot robotic insects wirelessly.
