A piezoelectric-driven inchworm locomotion device

An inchworm locomotion device is presented that can walk on smooth terrain. It consists of a piezoelectric unimorph and two custom-designed legs. A ma thematical model is formulated by superimposing the compliant and rigid-bod y components of the motion. The model is subsequently utilized to evaluate the ground reaction forces and horizontal velocity. Numerical simulation is performed to select the geometry parameters that improve the motion effici ency. An inchworm prototype was tested to verify the theoretical prediction s. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.