2-D Traveling Wave Driven Piezoelectric Plate Robot for Planar Motion

In this paper, a concept design of a novel traveling wave driven piezoelectric plate robot (TWDPPR) for planar motion is presented. The TWDPPR consists of an aluminum plate structure with four noncollocated piezoelectric patches bonded on its surface. A two-dimensional modeling of noncollocated piezoelectric patches bonded on thin structures developed and validated in previous work is used in this paper to model the TWDPPR based on the “two modes excitation” method for propulsion. A preliminary design is presented and the model is then used to verify the generation of the 2-D traveling wave on the plate for planar motion. A prototype is fabricated and forward, backward, and steering motions are experimentally achieved. An experimental characterization of the TWDPPR is given in this paper.