Dimensional Analysis of Dynamic MEMS Micro-Robotic Walking Subject to Orthogonal Actuation and Small-Scale Forces

This research evaluates simulated walking micro-robots based on orthogonal lateral and vertical actuators, a common restriction on micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) actuation, and subject to small damping effects and certain small-scale external forces operating on robot feet. Dimensional analysis is used to identify scalable trends in a numerical simulation of a simple walking dynamics model in which lateral and vertical motion are treated as dynamically-uncoupled, the limiting case for orthogonal MEMS actuators. The results of this analysis are that the system damping significantly affects walking speed, while small-scale foot-ground interaction forces other than adhesion have significant effects only over large order-of-magnitude variation in robot size. Results are intended to serve as a design tool for walking micro-robots.