RoACH: An autonomous 2.4g crawling hexapod robot

— This work presents the design, fabrication, and testing of a novel hexapedal walking millirobot using only two actuators. Fabricated from S2-Glass reinforced composites and flexible polymer hinges using the smart composite microstructures (SCM) process, the robot is capable of speeds up to 1 body length/sec or approximately 3cm/s. All power and control electronics are onboard and remote commands are enabled by an IrDA link. Actuation is provided by shape memory alloy wire. At 2.4g including control electronics and battery, RoACH is the smallest and lightest autonomous legged robot produced to date.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: IROS
• Authors: Aaron M. Hoover, Erik Steltz, Ronald S. Fearing
• Keywords: Control Electronics, IROS 2008, Robotics, S2-Glass Reinforced Composites, Smart Composite Microstructures